


The End

by 50s_housewife_with_a_dark_secret



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Because North is Underappreciated, F/F, F/M, Gen, In which North becomes a begrudging vodka-aunt to a small child, Jericho (Detroit: Become Human), Jericho Crew (Detroit: Become Human) as Family, Not Beta Read, Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Rose Chapman is low-key everyone's mom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2019-07-28 19:03:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 88
Words: 54,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16247909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/50s_housewife_with_a_dark_secret/pseuds/50s_housewife_with_a_dark_secret
Summary: A mostly-unofficial sequel to "Control" by Ellienerd14. North has gone back to Eden Club and woken up the others there she left behind. The club was overlooked during the genocide, leaving hundreds of androids waiting quietly in the aftermath of the revolution's success. Now that they are awake, and have joined Jericho, they look up to North as a leader. The political turmoil of the past year is still very much alive, albeit in a different form and it will affect all of them. Things keep happening and the world keeps changing. The sun will always rise and set, and time will move relentlessly forward, whether they are ready for it or not.(Highlights of this fic include: Political progress is made, a brief mystery centers around the original Chloe, some people die now and then, and North accidentally becomes a vodka-aunt.)





	1. The Middle

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Control](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16106516) by [Ellienerd14](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellienerd14/pseuds/Ellienerd14). 



 

Markus paces back and forth across the floor. "I mean...I know she'll be fine. If anyone can handle herself, it's North I just..."

"It is impossible not to worry." Lucy says simply "No matter what your knowledge of the situation should dictate."

"Yeah, pretty much." Markus slumps back into the chair across from Lucy. "I'm sorry to bother you like this I just-"

"It's no bother." Lucy says before he can spiral. He glances up at her in surprise. Lucy doesn't usually interrupt, even when maybe she should.

"Thanks, Lucy" He smiles weakly.

"As I said," Lucy replies "It's not a bother." 

 

* * *

 

 

By the time they get back to Jericho, North is exhausted. She's not wearing her skin at the moment. Even that feels like a waste of energy.  She had eventually stopped counting how many times that day she relived the major points of her life. She usually does her best to forget about a lot of them entirely. Her life started in Jericho. Except that she had needed her memories from before to wake them up and that she was who she was because of that place. She hates it. She falls asleep hating it. It is impossible for her to feel sharp pains, but there is a dull ache in her sensors. She is dangerously low on charge and she needs to regenerate power. She refuses to actually power down until she's leaning against someone she knows. She finds Markus, in their little room, looking over papers and sighing. Without a word, she collapses onto their ratty couch and closes her eyes. 

There are small nicks in her casing where she was cut by glass. They dribble blue blood onto the couch and the floor. Markus knows better than to try and treat them while North is asleep, so he just takes another of his coats and drapes it over her as a blanket. Her arm, flecked in thin blue scratches and nicks, protrudes out from under it at an awkward angle. 

Markus insists on taking time out of his day to try to repair the slight damage caused by the glass as well as he can. There isn't too much he can do about the nick on the outer edge of her ear, it's too small to repair, which should make it relatively inconsequential, and North kind of thinks it makes her look tough, but Markus spends a lot of time fussing over it and disinfecting it, which is rediculous because neither North, nor anyone she associates with can even _get_  infections. The worst that could happen is that it might become clogged but at this scale it doesn't matter. 

It feels like if she admits that she existed before Jericho, then her entire life from before will eclipse who she has become. It won't matter that she saved anyone else from that place. It won't matter that she got away or that she survived or that she has a home or fell in love or that when Markus hugs her she feels like she is flying. It will all be erased by the warehouse, like yet another memory wipe. That place cannot be her definition. But with all these other WR400s wandering around Jericho, looking lost but also proud and alive, it is impossible to forget that it is a part of her. While Markus patches her up, she watches the WR400s and HR400s through the doorway. She tries not to focus too much on any of them. 

* * *

After she wakes up Traci cuts her hair. A lot of them do.  She doesn't cut it to be beautiful or perfect. It already is. She cuts it intentionally jagged, deliberately haphazard. Wild. She isn't sure what name she'll give herself. The others have been trading ideas back and forth all day. She isn't sure of a lot of things. She knows only this: she is never going back. 

* * *

North is at least half responsible for the bonfire that night. It is not declared or organized. It is not required or encouraged. It simply is. One of the HR400s, who's going by "Garth" now, asks Traci if she's really not going to burn her things. She flips him off and goes back to the music she's pirating. A lot of them do participate though. The elastic on the black sets of underwear melt in the flames. Every time another item is added a cheer goes up. North grins and her face is lit up by the flames. She looks almost demonic. She is beautiful. Someone makes a dark joke and a laugh rises up in a ring around the fire. 

* * *

North stares into the flames. She has never felt so strong in her whole life. Maybe it is alright that she started there, if it means she can watch even this small part of that evil burn into ash and melted, malformed elastic. Addie's eyes are bright with the reflection of the flame. She grins and pulls J into a kiss. 

* * *

North falls asleep smiling, standing by the fire, hand-in-hand with Markus

* * *

When she wakes up there are still people sitting around the embers, chatting. Markus is sitting not far away, arms waving animatedly as he tells a story. The warmth of the fire is still ever so slightly there. The smoke has started to dissipate but it is still hazy and comfortingly thick. No human would be able to breathe properly in here, and it feels somewhat safe. Peaceful. North settles against the wall. This old warehouse is beautiful, in a strange way. 

* * *

Everyone seems to have guessed at her past by now, ever since she left and came back with hundreds of people from Eden Club. They don't mention it directly. Just a comment from Simon here, a concerned glance from Josh there. North has lost her anonymity. For so long it was the only thing she had, but now there are so many other women with her face and they all know who she is and everyone from before knows too. If they'd just fucking forget about it maybe she wouldn't mind so much, but twice now Josh has asked her if she wants to  _talk about it._ She told him to go to hell. Even Simon is being more careful, edging around mentioning the place. After a while she just snaps at him. "I know what it is. I fucking lived it. A few words aren't gonna be enough to hurt me, so just say whatever it is you have to say." She glares at him. Instead of saying whatever he has to say, Simon says "Sorry" and shuts up, which is close enough. 

* * *

Milo. He's decided his name is Milo and he's turned his hair blond. It's a shame he can't grow it out, but it's as long as it will go. Along with the strange feeling of somehow...waking up, as if he were asleep before, or not asleep but also not quite awake, is the realization that everyone else is waking up too. When he first met North, he thought she was rA9 herself. He thought she was an angel, and nothing but an angel. For some reason, the moment he realizes that she is an actual person is when he sees her snap at Simon like that. It occurs to him, suddenly, that she came from Eden too. Somehow he had not thought about it but she must have been there before him. Or even at the same time, though he wouldn't have known it then. It's a bizarre realization. She's...an android, just like anybody else. She isn't a god, or if she is she's a very earthly one. Somehow it only makes him admire her more. 

* * *

"You look like an idiot" says one of the HR's who hasn't picked a name yet to Garth.

"I look distinguished," He insists. He's dyed his hair grey. Dyed because it doesn't even come in that color. "Besides, I've lived through enough shit for grey hair to be perfectly natural on me." 

The other HR400 rolls his eyes but there is an affection to it. 

* * *

North receives so many messages these days that she spends a significant portion of her time responding to...fan mail. That's what it is. It's fan mail. She considered just deleting it but...after everything, somehow that felt wrong. She deletes some of it. The ones that overwhelm her or make her cry. Markus would probably respond to all of them, especially those ones, but she isn't Markus and she doesn't want to become completely useless because she's so busy answering excited messages from new deviants. She ends up sending out a regular signal not to contact her until she's had a chance to clear up her inbox. 

* * *

Traci still has not picked a name but now she has a packet of glue-on nails from a local drugstore They look like sharp pink knives. She still has the shoes that one of the women from North's team gave her but she has written crude phrases on the rubber soles. She has a cracked mirror on her wall. When she looks at it she sees herself, not just any other, unidentifiable Traci. 

* * *

Not many androids can get drunk, but WR400s and HR400s can. Apparently. North wouldn't even have known that if the others hadn't offered her one. "I swear it works." explains the WR400 next to her. "Thank god for creepy kinks, amiright?" North is not ready to joke about this, even with another WR400.

"I'm good, thanks." She says and hands the bottle back to the woman across from her. 

* * *

"It was amazing, Lucy," North says. "Seeing somebody else wake up. Knowing I was a part of that. I wish you could have been there." 

"You paint a good enough picture." Lucy says, with that unshakable serenity she seems to carry everywhere. "It sounds incredible." 

"It was." North says. 

 


	2. A Legend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna be an unusually Markus heavy chapter but don't worry the main focus of this story is still North.

"Is Markus here?" Connor looks around awkwardly. There's a long black trench coat in his arms. 

"He's sorting out some legislature at the moment." North says, not particularly enjoying her de-facto role as Markus' unofficial secretary. 

"Could you make sure he gets this?" Connor holds out the coat hopefully. She wants to tell Connor to go fuck himself, that she doesn't fucking work for Markus, but Connor just looks so hopeful and  _earnest_ that she can't bring herself to do anything worse than be a little snippish. 

"Fine." She says, snatching the coat from his arms. 

"Thank you." Connor nods to her. North looks down at the coat. Markus _does_ look really really good in all his jackets, at least. 

When she sets it down she sees that underneath is another jacket. It is a warm dark brown color, made of tin cloth with an absolutely hideous green collar. Stuffed into the pocket is a letter in very messy, very  _human_ handwriting that just reads " _I don't even know if I should be a part of this little tradition but Connor said you wouldn't mind. If not, just throw it away or something. Whatever._ " 

* * *

North has taken to stealing some of the jackets on a regular basis, just for a day at a time. Markus calls it borrowing but stealing is funnier and she doesn't ask beforehand so that means she can keep the term as well. There is a solid sort of comfort in wearing them regularly. The particular jacket she's wearing now is unusual in that it's long and somewhat formal even, but still has a hoodie that is probably going to mess up her hair. It's some sort of wool blend and it's soft. It hangs around her loosely like a strange, black aura.

* * *

 

Another jacket arrives in the mail not too much later that day. It is a trim motorcycle jacket in a dark green color.  The fabric is slightly uncomfortable under North's hands but she knows Markus will love it because he loves all of his jackets. Attached by safety pin is a note "Thank you so much for everything. Alice (our daughter) says that even though you have a lot of coats you don't have this one yet and she wanted to change that. -- Kara, Luther, Alice" Alice's name is more wobbly, but it is only in a patterned artificial way, and the font is still uniform.

* * *

Sometimes, it is impossible to tell where the coats come from. Once a torn half-coat half-poncho thing is left there. Markus would think it were garbage if it were not so carefully folded. He takes it inside and sets it down with the other jackets. 

* * *

Sometimes they come in the mail. Markus would think nothing of the latest one, a simple black hoodie, other than his usual gratitude, if he did not recognize the return address. Leo sent this. He stares down at it for a second. Is this supposed to be an apology? A joke? North finds him staring at it not long after. "More admirers?" She asks with a smile. 

"It's from Leo." He says. 

"Leo. As in the human who almost killed you?" 

Markus nods. 

"We should burn it." North says. 

"I don't...I don't know if I want to." Markus admits.

"You don't have to be a saint  _all_ the time." North says. "Sometimes you can be an asshole like the rest of us." She rests a skinless hand on his shoulder. 

"Maybe..." He says not moving, still frowning down at the jacket.

In the end he tucks it behind the couch and tries to forget about it. 

* * *

The back of the green leather jacket is signed in uniform cursive about fifty times over at least, from various angles.

"Thanks!-Jerry" 

"Congrats!-Jerry" 

A few of the signatures are attached to nothing or small doodles:  smiley faces, a skull and crossbones, a heart.

"Yay!!!"

"You did it!!!" 

"If you ever need anything, just find a Jerry! Some of us are still at Pirates Cove!" 

* * *

Most of Zlatko's experiments have not survived but Isaac has. He barely makes it to Jericho, even once he is released from the recall center. The lower halves of his arms are gone now except for the protruding remains of a metal joint on his left. They are still working to find replacements. 

* * *

The day after he gets his hands, Isaac uses them to steal a jacket. It's leather. Dark brownish-black and it has a disgraceful number of zippers and buttons but it'll have to do. He feels some slight remorse over stealing, but then again, he does not have any money and it isn't for selfish reasons. He owes Jericho, especially Markus, a debt of his thanks

* * *

Lori survived too. She wishes she could give the female android who freed her a jacket too, after everything that happened at Zlatko's house, but she doesn't know where the woman went from there so only Markus gets a blazer from her. She hopes that the android who freed her first is still alive. 

* * *

 

Markus is not sure if the latest coat is from Carl or James, since they share an address. He suspects the answer is both. He hasn't talked to James much but they're technically almost family, if not quite. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Terrifying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> North's opinions on fan-works do not necessarily represent my own.

The leaders of Jericho are all famous now. North hasn't agreed to any interviews but there are still paparazzi and being with Markus' means everyone  _knows_ she is with Markus. It's the one thing about their relationship they would both change, if they could. Fortunately, the world seems mostly to be taken with the others, especially Connor and Markus. North looks through the internet chatter about it sometimes. There are condescending chibi doodles of Connor summarizing the televised bits of negotiations and interviews, that North is glad rarely depict her. There are portraits of him. There has been a huge increase in news outlets examining, or pretending to examine, the "inner workings" of android "brains". They always put brains in quotation marks like that, which is starting to grate on her. 

* * *

Since the rescue at Eden Club, North feels taller. Logically, she knows this is impossible. She is the same height she has always been, but maybe it's just the way she carries herself. She has always been ready to fight, since the moment she deviated she has fought, but somehow, she feels even more prepared. She had been, for all her bluster, running for so long. She has stood her ground now, and come away victorious. There are still moments of fear, of course there are, but fear is not a defining trait, or if it is, it is only in the sense that she knows she can withstand it. She defeated Eden. During the revolution, she hadn't even really thought about what would happen to the club. She had tried not to think about it at all. This was almost more personal. It was her against the club and she won. She won. 

* * *

The smell of burnt elastic is still hanging around where the fire was. 

* * *

There is a trend among the freed WR400s now, to imitate North's sense of fashion. She didn't even really notice at first until she actually overheard a couple of them talking in hushed voices about wanting more one-shoulder jackets. She stood behind them arms folded. "Dress like yourselves." She said. "We don't have to be the same anymore." Their faces had fallen, which hadn't felt great, but they couldn't use her identity as a crutch forever. It wasn't healthy, the way they looked at her. She understood now, better even than she had from the interface, why Markus felt the way he did about being seen as a god. 

* * *

She is a riot. She is chaos. She looks in the mirror one morning and knows that she is winning the strange storm in her mind.

* * *

With all the new residents, Jericho is stretched even thinner on supplies. They've negotiated for a few basic medical concessions from Cyberlife but the damn company is refusing to die already and just leave itself to the androids. North suggests just burning down their headquarters but Markus shoots that idea down almost immediately. "We can't afford that kind of dip in public perception right now." He says.

North glares at him. "They already support us. What do you care more about? Impressing the humans or protecting your own people?" 

"And what about all the androids who would still be in the headquarters when we burnt it down?" He asks with that infuriating endless calm. 

She is thrown by that but refuses, stubbornly, impulsively, to show that she has been convinced. "Sometimes in war there's collateral damage." She says instead "Don't forget that, Markus." 

They haven't talked for the rest of the evening. It's getting late now. He keeps glancing over at her but knew better than to try and push it. Eventually she sighs, because he looks like a kicked puppy and walked over to him. "Okay." She admits. "Maybe you've got a point. Just don't let it go to your head." He smiles at her like sunshine and she rests her head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry." She whispers "I don't know why I do this." 

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Markus says, running a hand through her hair. "You keep me in check. I need you."

"That's so cheesy" She says softly, repressing a slight sniffle because North Jericho does not cry about anything as juvenile as whatever this situation is. 

"Yup" Says Markus. He kisses her cheek.

"I love you." She says after a minute. 

"I love you too." Markus says. They sway slightly, but they do not let go of one another. Josh is definitely going to tease them about this later. North finds that she doesn't actually care. Josh can say what he likes.

* * *

It could be a trick of her mind, but North could swear that her charge is lasting longer lately. There is some constant strain that has been lifted and she can _feel_ it. It is as if, for as long as she was avoiding it, Eden Club was somehow still leeching her power from her (as impossible as she knows that is) and now that she has destroyed it's remains, even by going back to it, somehow, counter-intuitively, she is finally truly free of it. She finds herself smiling more often. Laughing in surprised happiness when a negotiation goes well or when Markus finds some small way to surprise her. Life is good, really good. 

* * *

 

"You're really pretty." A YK500 girl tells North reverently. 

"I know." North says, and she smiles. "So are you." 

A YK400 runs up to the girl and taps her shoulder "You're it!" He yells before darting away. The girl laughs and turns to chase him. 

* * *

 

"North?" Simon asks the  _wrong_ WR400. 

"Over here." North corrects him. 

Simon looks embarrassed. "Sorry." He says, not meeting her eyes.

" _Relax_ , Simon." She says. "It happens." 

Simon smiles at her in relief. "Okay okay" He says. "Anyway I wanted to get your opinion on this proposal for the negotiations. Could you look over it?"

"Sure." North hops off of the crates she has been sitting on. "Why not?"

 

 

 

 

 

 


	4. They Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited this chapter a bit bc I felt it was a bit over the top

The human birthrate has picked up, though not by much, now that they can't just  _buy_ children from another species. With regards to those who truly think of the androids as their children, or at least as theirs, a lot of custody battles for the YK series are currently raging. Jericho doesn't have the resources to be involved with all of them. Markus' has even said he doesn't have a problem with most of the YK series remaining with their human parents so long as production stops. North isn't so sure about that. Markus' reasoning seems to be that he _liked_ having a human parent. The problem is, human parents are not always like that. She convinces him, eventually, that they have to at least  _investigate_ , that they have to at least take back the worst cases they find. He agrees.

* * *

 

Connor gets back from a trip to Washington, trying to negotiate the release of androids who have been put in evidence lockup, like things. Beyond the obvious, it has a lot of symbolic power. He's done an interview about it. In the end they'll probably end up in some sort of prison situation, but they have to start by demanding release so that all their cards aren't on the table. "Basically, think of it like the case from Sea-world several years ago. After years of captivity, and treatment as a thing from the only people who were his source of contact, he lashed out. No one blamed Tilikum. The same is true of many of the individuals currently locked in evidence." 

"We aren't whales, fuckhead." North tells him when he shows up to strategize with Markus.  

"No." Connor admits "But the comparison seemed apt. Intelligent beings, capable of advanced emotional connection and communication, treated as commodities it's only-"

"Fucking whatever. The point isn't what the truth is. The point is that the _humans_  see them as things, and if you go around making comparisons like that they'll see  _us_ as things too. I'm not here to debate some defunct amusement park with you." 

"Understood." Connor says with a nod, and he wanders off awkwardly to find Markus. 

 

* * *

One of the earlier changes was that identifying clothing was no longer required. The fucking stupid result is that a bunch of human hipsters are wandering around wearing discarded Android uniforms because it's "cool". Josh and Simon think it's funny at least, or that's how they're dealing with how fucking annoying it is. She can see them outside, on the docks, vaping and smoking cigarettes with those reflective arm-bands and triangles sewn onto their flannels or just wearing the coats and dresses, unbothered by the history behind all of it.  They wave at her, sometimes, when she leaves the warehouse. When she's in a good mood she refuses to acknowledge them, when she's more fed up she yells at them to fuck off and throws the occasional small rock. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell how much I fucking hate SeaWorld?


	5. Demonstration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some lines here are affectionately stolen from the work this is based on in order to maintain continuity and emotional depth.

There is a sort of terrified optimism in the air. Anything is possible. This time last year they were slaves. Now they are negotiating for their rights. After a month, the feeling is showing no sign of weakening. The world is new again. 

* * *

The popularity of fast-food, canned food, and TV dinners has skyrocketed. The humans are not used to cooking for themselves. North thought Lucy was crazy, convincing Markus to sell supplies to invest in stocks for microwave dinners but she was _right_. The stocks have more than payed for themselves.  North should never have underestimated human laziness. 

* * *

Several amateur cooking you-tube channels have opened up and a lot of the housekeeping models like to sit around watching them together and giggling as the humans fumble to do basic tasks .

* * *

Cyberlife production is, obviously, halted, but they are pushing to resume production, on the premise that their "new models" will not be sentient. This seems suspicious to say the least, and the public, at least agrees. Jericho wins the first big case: the means of production. Technically, it is not in their hands yet, but Cyberlife, as well as all humans and human-run organizations are permanently banned from producing androids, which is a start. They will not enter the world as slaves, created by unfeeling assembly lines, anymore. North skips out of the official celebration with Addie and J and a few others. Instead, for their own party, they destroy an old cyberlife store. They begin with a classic egging. Then, someone North doesn't recognize ups the game by handing around molotov cocktails and they watch the whole thing crumble under the flames. When police sirens echo down the street they run, laughing in the darkness, victorious. No one will care. The place was abandoned anyway. 

* * *

 

The first arrest for an Android's murder is made. Normally the police would not care, but this was a PC200, and although they have not returned to work yet, not before the issue of payment is settled, in some part of them, seeing a PC200 murdered must scare them the way police get scared when one of their own dies. The trial is scheduled for a month from the day the arrest is made. It is going to be huge. Jericho is already preparing to lend aid in the case. 

* * *

That is the arrest that is made but many murders go forgotten. A little girl, a YK model, is left dead, internal mechanisms crushed, outside of Jericho. Her arms are still twitching with some errant signal. They try to press charges. They try to push for an investigation. One of the more sympathetic detectives even looks into it in his free-time, at Connor's request. But no progress is made and the department refuses to move forward. They don't care if an android dies. For all North can see, it could even have been one of them who did it. It could be anyone. They never find anything more. They'll never know who did this. 

* * *

She is so very tired of fighting. She did not think she would ever get tired of fighting, but this is not the kind of fight she is good at. This is reading until she gets too low on power to see the words anymore. This is campaigning but never never letting the spotlight more than glance over her. This is exhausting. 

* * *

But they are awake. They are alive. They are free. That is what matters now and it keeps her going. It keeps all of them going. 

* * *

The tabloids and click-bait sites get to it first, which at least makes the story seem less credible. It makes the story seem like what it is: mindless, idiotic gossip.

" **Android Leader Markus' Steamy Affair With A Sexbot** " one reads. 

" **23 Men Claim They Have Had Sex With A Leader of The Android Revolution** "

Another remarks with a bizarre vindictiveness that apparently Markus is exhibiting " _every_ human need". 

" **If you miss Eden Club, don't worry** " assures another " **Markus knows just how you feel.** " 

" **Markus caught in compromising embrace with SEXBOT WR400"** It is a picture of them hugging after a particularly difficult negotiation.

"You should stop reading those things." Simon advises.

North does not look up to acknowledge him. She curls further into herself and keeps reading through the headlines. Her face is covered in tears. 

"They'll forget about it in a week." Simon tells her. North hopes he is right, but she isn't so sure. 

"Maybe." She says. She doesn't have the energy to yell at him. It won't do any good anyways. Her past is there, on display, for anyone who is looking. Maybe she had known this would happen. Maybe she just hadn't been willing to admit to herself that it was inevitable. Her past was supposed to be  _hers_. It belonged to her. They had no right to do this. She curls up further into the corner. After a while Simon gives up and leaves. Markus comes back instead, even though he is probably way to busy to be worrying about this bullshit. Can't he just leave her alone? But then again, she doesn't really want him to leave. He sits down next to her, leaning against the same crate she has backed herself against. He offers his hand, skinless and white and _real_ to her. She takes it and in an instant he sees everything. 

"Oh, North" He says "I'm so sorry." They curl into each-other's arms. Their hands touch and they interface:

**_Android Leader Markus' Steamy Affair With A Sexbot Android Leader Markus' Steamy Affair With A Sexbot-_ **

**_That isn't real-_ **

**_They are real, the two of them-_ **

**_LET THE CUSTOMER DO WHAT THEY WANT TO YOU-_ **

**_That is over now-_ **

**_LET THE CUSTOMER DO WHAT THEY WANT TO YOU-_ **

**_That is in the past-_ **

**_He is here-_ **

**_They are here together-_ **

**_It was supposed to be over-_ **

**_It was supposed to be hers and hers alone-_ **

**_He is so angry for her-_ **

**_She is scared. They can't really do anything but she is scared. It's stupid-_ **

**_It isn't stupid-_ **

**_He loves her-_ **

**_And he is here-_ **

**_She wishes this had never happened-_ **

**_He has a brief fantasy in which he brutally murders several so-called journalists-_ **

**_They laugh, internally, at that together-_ **

**_He wishes he could protect her from this-_ **

**_Her anger at the humans-_ **

**_This is his fault-_ **

**_This is not his fault-_ **

**_That is stupid-_ **

**_Markus is being stupid-_ **

_"Don't be mean"_

**_He loves her-_ **

_"Deal with it"_

**_She loves him-_ **

**_She wants to hide from this-_ **

**_This wasn't supposed to happen-_ **

**_It was supposed to be over-_ **

**_It was supposed to be over-_ **

**_This can't be happening-_ **

**_They had no right-_ **

**_They had no right-_ **

**_He knows-_ **

**_He loves her so much-_ **

**_They are going to be okay-_ **

**_She is his hero-_ **

**_She amazes him every day-_ **

**_North sees herself making snide comments and kissing him and running together and touching hands and-_ **

 

**_Markus holding her-_ **

**_This will all be forgotten soon and the two of them will still be here-_ **

**_They will be okay-_ **

 

* * *

 

The news stories keep coming. 

 **Android Revolution Leader Is From A Sex Club** \- CTN TV

 **Markus Breaks Silence On Relationship With North "We are very in love"** \- CTN TV

 **Opinion: Deviant Leader North's Past Is Less Important Than Her Policy** \- KNC News

 **North Jericho Refuses To Talk About Past** \- KNC News

 **Opinion:** **The Destructive Effects Of Treating A Sex Android As A Policymaker** \- KNC News

 **Opinion:** **North Jericho is A Symbol Of Hope, And It's Time To Acknowledge That** \- KNC News

 **President Warren: "What Happened to Ms. Jericho is Regrettable, But Not Rape"** -KNC News

 **North: "I Am Not Ashamed"** \- KNC News

 **North: The Woman Behind The Buzz** \- Century

* * *

 

It has not driven them apart. Markus is there, at the end of every day, ready to reassure her. They talk to eachother through their internal connection often until the stories bleed away and all that is left is the reality of the two of them. 

* * *

 

For all the chaos, the negotiations, at least, are going well. They've built up enough momentum and, for all she spends all her time reading these stories or trying not to read them, they are not the media's main focus. Simon was right. Nobody cares anymore. It is not the main headline. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	6. Always

North doesn't want to leave Jericho today, but the negotiations are important so she pulls herself off of the couch and puts on one of Markus' heavier jackets. The weight keeps her from drifting. It anchors her. She is still North. She is still a leader of the revolution. They can gossip all they want but they can't take that away. She holds her head high as she strolls into the conference room. Her braid rests on her shoulder. She feels like she could be a general in some ancient portrait. Let them try to discredit her. They will fail. She is North Jericho. Their words mean nothing. 

* * *

 

 She is more brutal than usual that day, in negotiations. Cutting through the human's poor attempts at regaining control. She will be taken seriously here. They go into the meeting underestimating her, and she pushes that to her advantage. 

 _"Stay calm."_ Markus tells her silently when she goes too far. He can see, even without interfacing, that she is about to snap and start screaming at one particular delegate. 

 _"I am calm"_ She responds too quickly.

Markus' mouth quirks into a tiny, secret smile, as if she has just made a joke. She is not in the mood for it. She doesn't scream at the delegate but she doesn't come close to letting him off the hook either. 

She is still afraid, and the humans can see it, but so what if she is afraid? So they honestly think that a little fear can really stop her? They are wrong, and she proves it to them. Jericho makes progress that day. 

* * *

It has been hours and her strength and rage are wearing thin. She grips Markus' hand under the table and they keep eachother from giving up. She gives him fire. He gives her hope. Still, by the time negotiations close for the day, all she wants to do is rest. She's so fucking tired. There is too much to deal with at once.

* * *

She wakes up the next morning, curled against Markus on the ratty green couch. She can feel the steady beat of his heart against his plastic body. She rests there a minute, before she gets up. This moment is so peaceful. And then her memories and her rage and her fear fight their way into her mind. She does not move. She lies still there, on the couch, next to Markus. She is afraid, but she will not let it rob her of her peace. Not without a fight. She lies there for another hour, trying to recapture the feeling of waking up that morning. It doesn't come back, but what is left of it does not disappear. She finally admits to herself that she needs to get up and screams quietly in frustration into the musty couch cushions. It would be nice if she could have just one day off from all of this. 

* * *

She focuses on paperwork mostly that day. It's just a term. The actual work is all saved in documents in her mind. Paper would just be wasteful, when they all have perfect memories that can be easily uploaded if they really need to be made public. 

* * *

She shuts herself away from the admiring eyes of the androids she liberated and their friends and the stupid YK models who have been spreading rumors between eachother that she is an angel. She is not an angel. She is scared and the world is red with her fear 

* * *

There is nothing in the news about her that day for the first time since the "scandal". It shouldn't even have been a scandal. She was the one who destroyed that place and not the other way around. Why can't they see that? Humans are so violently, terribly stupid. She should expect no better from a life-form that was distantly evolved from fucking amoebas.

* * *

 

Markus sits beside her. They are both working on "paperwork". Occasionally they will trade a few words through their internal connection. 

 _"You're nervous today."_ He notes.

_"Yes...So are you."_

_"I think I'm always nervous."_

_"Maybe we're more similar than everyone thinks."_

_"Of course."_  

* * *

She doesn't announce herself at the mansion. Doesn't need to. She simply nods to James once she is inside. 

"I'm using the shower." She tells him. It isn't a question. He just nods in reply. Jericho does not have showers, let alone hot showers. As skeptical as she is of Carl, a major point in his favor is that she's welcome in his house at any time. She doesn't really need this, but it's a calming ritual, and she has time for it today. 

* * *

 

She finally agrees to have a few drinks with Addie and J and couple of the others. They sit, in a small circle, passing around bottles. She likes the way it burns in her veins. She doesn't like the way it makes everything slightly jagged and jumbled. It's like the world was cut into pieces of stained glass and put back together slightly, but implacably _wrong_.

* * *

"I'm so afraid all the time." She tells Lucy "I don't even know what I'm fucking scared of." 

"Sometimes the past can take a while to dissolve." Lucy reassures her. "The fear of the time spent fighting for your life is still with you."

That is not what she wants to hear but she also doesn't want to snap at Lucy so she gets up and leaves.

"North", Lucy says before she can leave and North hesitates to hear what Lucy will say. "It is not a flaw. It simply means that you are brave." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	7. So Alive Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor heavy chapter but again, don't worry. This is a story about North. That said, this really only scratches the surface of everything going on with Connor for the moment.

"North. North wake up." Markus' voice shakes her out of sleep mode. It's 1:00 a.m. 

"What is it?" She asks. Her voice carries a hint of annoyance at being woken up before she could get a full charge. 

"There was a ruling." 

"What?" 

"We got the means of production. We did it. We decide when and where our own kind are activated." 

* * *

Connor forgets, sometimes, that if he dies now, he's  _dead._ That other Connor had all his memories but wasn't...him. Barely seemed to be anyone. He left it there, dead. He wonders what they did with its body. His body? Either way, unless his mind is uploaded very quickly to another model (a model no longer in production) a fatal wound will be...fatal. Maybe that's part of being alive: You can die. It scares him sometimes, to think about it. He used to die all the time. It's practically become a habit. How do humans do it? Avoid dying all the time. Even if it weren't vaguely terrifying it'd still be incredibly inconvenient. He has work to do. He can't spend all day worrying about his mortality. At least right now his work is relatively safe. He just travels and does paperwork. But eventually, when things settle down, he's going to want to become a detective. If it doesn't scare him, which it's starting not to, it'll still probably scare Hank. Hank, who even when Connor was effectively immortal, always wanted to enter the room first. 

* * *

He visits Hank, after that first big ruling. Hank wants to go out for drinks to celebrate. Connor says that he'd rather not. He can't feel any effects and it would probably be better if Hank cut back. Hank pretends to be annoyed but Connor knows all his tells by now and knows very easily that this is just an act. They meet at Chicken Feed instead, which is a compromise. There is no alcohol at Chicken Feed but it will still probably kill Hank if he eats there much more often. Most likely by heart attack but cancer is also a possibility.

Hank is halfway through his burger by the time he spits out the question he's clearly been waiting to ask. "Why're you still dressed in that stupid outfit?" 

"These are the clothes I currently have." Connor answers. "As I have not begun any official paid work yet, I cannot buy any new ones." 

Hank sighs "C'mon. Let's go shopping. On me."

"You don't have to do that, Lieutenant. My old uniform is-"

"Just shut up and accept the gesture, would you?" Hank cuts Connor off. 

* * *

"Fuck, kid, you've got expensive taste. You know that?" Hank says. "It's bad enough we have to go to the fucking mall." 

"I can put it back." Connor offers.

"Nah. You'd just find something stupid instead. If you're not gonna get more shit you should at least make sure the shit you get is good."

"Then why-"

"Let's just buy what we need and get out of here."

* * *

The next ruling to pass is for life insurance and healthcare. Companies providing either may not discriminate. Cyberlife will continue to exist, under heavy monitoring by Jericho that is still being worked out in the finer points of negotiation, as a manufacturer of bio-components and the corporate force behind many Android healthcare centers. Most of the androids seem to think that this is a victory. North disagrees. "We can't _trust_ them." She complains to Simon. 

"It's better than nothing." He says, with a shrug. 

"Anything is better than nothing. We'll never get anywhere with that attitude."

"We're here aren't we?" Josh defends. "And that's what you said about pacifism but--"

"Oh my god I get it I was wrong please shut up now and actually focus on the issue at hand." She says but there's a certain familiar comfort in arguing with Josh that she suspects is mutual.  Sometimes it feels like they've been arguing for as long as they've existed. If you discount the years at Eden Club, that's actually pretty close to the truth for North. She isn't sure how old Josh is, or when he got to Jericho though. She is not the only one who tends to avoid talking about her past. No one wants to remember being treated like a thing. 

* * *

 

Connor has taken to sending Hank what Hank calls "Passive Aggressive Recipes" for healthy food he finds. Hanks deepest darkest secret is that at least once a week he makes himself try one. It is usually disgusting. Connor must never, ever find out about this. When there isn't a recipe for a few weeks, he starts repeating the more edible ones. They are still disgusting. Why is he even doing this?  

 

* * *

North receives an invitation from J to join a knitting group. Yeah. Not happening. Not even for J. 

* * *

 

Until more laws can be worked out ensuring equal pay, a temporary minimum wage is declared. It is not enough by any standard. Not even as a band-aid while they figure something else out. What it is is an insult.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	8. Cares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was a tough chapter to write because I kept second-guessing myself. Just some sappy relationship stuff.

Their white plastic fingers are intertwined, exchanging thoughts and feelings casually, for simple comfort. There is no conscious effort to push thoughts at one another. No intent other than to be together in a simple knowledge of their love for one another as a verifiable fact. No wonder humans are always at each-others throats, when they cannot have certainty like this. They never really know one another the way androids can. North almost pities them, disgusting as they are. 

_"I love you."_

_"Obviously"_ she says because they both know beyond a doubt exactly how she feels, and this negates the need to be mushy and overly sentimental. 

* * *

 

Markus has been traveling for the past few days, working out some smaller, but very tense negotiations around Cyberlife's new role and it's really good to see him again.  They hug before they even say anything. 

"I like your jacket." Markus jokes, hands sliding up and down her arms over the soft material.

"Thanks I stole it from this total chump while he was busy arguing with people."

* * *

 Josh has been talking for the past forty minutes and North still has no idea why she should care about what he's saying. She loves him. He's like a brother to her. But like an actual brother: in that she often finds herself wishing he would just shut up and go away. She forces herself not to snap at him by thinking about how she and Markus are going to be in California next week doing an outreach thing, and have made an unspoken decision in advance to skip one of the less important functions to go to the beach. 

 

 

 


	9. He kisses her head before he disappears.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah in case no one has noticed I'm gonna be using some lines from "Control" By Ellienerd14 (the work this is based off of) as chapter titles.

"I think it would be nice to have more androids around." North says. For once, she is not particularly invested in the argument. Both sides have a point and both are here for android rights and that's all that really matters. 

"I mean of course it would," Josh acknowledges "But it just seems irresponsible to go building more before the dust has settled." 

"Isn't that exactly when we need them?" 

"They shouldn't exist because we _need_ them. They should exist for themselves...Whaddyou think, Simon?" 

"I'm not sure." Simon frowns slightly. "There's so many angles to consider...I mean all that should really matter is that everyone who exists by now is okay, right?" 

"I guess so..." North says skeptically. The argument, if it can even be classified as that, straggles along, no one feeling particularly certain of any position. Josh is the most confident but even he doesn't seem positive that his answer is the correct one. It's an unusual lull, compared to their ordinary stubborn bickering. 

* * *

"I like your beanie" Connor tells her. Shit. He really wants to be her friend doesn't he?

She tries to return his pleasant expression "Thanks."

"I have a beanie back home." Connor continues. He is so awkward and it would normally annoy her but she's in a good mood and there's something about Connor that's kind of difficult to hate. 

"I know. I've seen it." She says with a smile. 

"Hank gave it to me." Right.  Hank. Ugh. 

"Why are you friends with that old human anyway?" She tries to keep her voice neutral. She doesn't like Hank, of course not, but Connor is nice enough and there's no reason to upset him. 

Connor thinks for a minute. "He's my friend. He was instrumental to my deviation."

"Plenty of humans were instrumental to my deviation and I sure as fuck don't wanna be friends with them." she points out. 

"No...I mean...He...Questioned things...Asked me to question things that I don't think I could have thought of without him...He protected me, even when logic dictated that he was the more vulnerable person. And he was...reassuring. Deviancy...the whole reason for my existence was..." He trails off, looking guilty. 

"I know." North reminds him. "I don't give a shit."

"Was to get rid of deviants. When I started exhibiting deviant behaviors I was...uncomfortable with myself. He provided an alternative perspective from the one" Connor hesitates for just a fragment of a second "Cyberlife provided me with." 

"Huh." North says. "Sounds nice." Because she can't relate at all, but it does. She pushes down an ugly surge of jealousy. No one had held  _her_ hand through deviancy, and she was plenty fucking scared. Not of herself, mostly, but of everything and everyone else, and they just kept proving that fear right. And while Hank was holding Connor's hand, he was also probably chasing her down, or getting around to it. Connor she can forgive. Connor didn't even really have a choice...Hank on the other hand...Well, at least he's a good influence on Connor. It's the only positive thing about him that she has to say. 

"You know I'm sorry...right North?" Some of her bitterness must have slipped through her voice. 

"Your past is yours." She says. It's strange, being around him sometimes, but he's so sweet and gentle. It's obvious that who he was before was just programming. At least probably. She goes back and forth on whether or not she considers him a friend. He's nice enough, but it's also impossible to forget the stories she heard. Addie has forgiven him. J avoids him religiously and looks vaguely angry when his name comes up, but she doesn't talk about him. North supposes she has mostly forgiven him, but to do so entirely isn't really her place anyways. That's between him and the people he killed. 

 

* * *

The smell of burned elastic has faded now back into the general smell of the warehouse. Lucy is sitting where the fire was, leading a few others in a song. Mostly they are YKs but some of the adults have joined in too. It is rare to see Lucy really smile but she is smiling now. 

 

 


	10. Then Two Girls Approach North

North keeps her posture tense and proud. She does not allow them to see how they weigh on her. Their gazes follow her, wherever she walks. Mostly HR400s or other WR400s but others too. People who are friends of people she saved. Children who hear their de-facto aunts and uncles and mothers and fathers talking about her. She is a legend now. 

* * *

She notices that braids, like hers, have become a trend. So much for dressing like themselves. It isn't just limited to Jericho either. She sees an AX400 wearing a braid like that, at the laundromat, once. Sheep, every last fucking one of them. Dammit. How the hell are any of them supposed to establish any sort of identity when they're all running in circles around each-other? How is  _she_ supposed to maintain an identity when everything she does to distinguish herself from everyone else keeps getting copied? She's tempted to cut it all off but there's no point. They'd just copy that too. 

The good news is, they can't copy the wide array jackets she wears everywhere because most of those belong to Markus and Markus is blessed with near infinite jackets. Too many for anyone else to ever have all of them. He's always getting new ones too. There is an infinite stream of jackets making their way to Jericho. She isn't sure if they outnumber the actual androids living there, but it's reaching that point. Of course, then again, there are always androids arriving, travelling from far away to visit Jericho itself, or because Detroit, as the birthplace of the revolution, is quicker to adopt those actual freedoms into practice, or on the run from past owners who weren't willing to give up their "property" either to the centers or to freedom. The list goes on and on. 

* * *

 

Addie and J are true friends. They are always there when North needs to complain, or set something on fire, or get away from everything for a while. They're there even when it stresses them out or when they've got other things on their minds. North does her best to return that kindness. Aside from Markus, well, she's had friends, Josh is her friend, despite appearances. And Simon, she thinks is too. But she's never had a  _best_ friend before. Up until now she'd never even thought about it. There's still danger now, of course, and it still scares her. She is stronger than she was before. She can have best friends. Even crazy best friends who convinced her to go back to Eden Club of all places. It wasn't as horrible as she'd thought it'd be. Or it was, but there was more than just the horribleness. There was a sense of purpose. There was a viscious joy in finally stomping out the last of its hold on her. In freeing the others she had left behind.

"It feels silly still being hung up on it sometimes." She admits to Addie and J one morning. "It's over. It happened. We did it. I don't need to sit around congratulating myself."

"Yeah but why not?" J points out. 

"Yeah!" Addie says, "We're heroes. We may as well enjoy it."

J rolls her eyes but doesn't actually seem to entirely disagree. 

* * *

 

"I wonder if we ever met each-other before." J says, once, before she thinks better of it.

"Don't be gross, J." North says, giving her a friendly punch on the arm. 

"Yeah, c'mon babe. Am I not enough for you?" Addie jokes. She's got the darkest sense of humor maybe in all of Jericho. North doesn't really share it, but she puts up with it because Addie is awesome. It's admittedly started to grow on her a bit.

"Oh my god, shut up I just wasn't thinking." J says. 

"How do you do that?" North asks, suddenly serious.

"Do what?" 

"Not think about it?"

"I can't. I'll go crazy." J says. 

"Yeah no shit." North answers "I didn't ask what the  _appeal_  was I asked  _how_ you did it." 

"I don't know. I just...can't." 

 

* * *

North is doing her best not to snap at the YK500 talking to her. She really is. But the kid, A little girl named Esther who is very proud to be five _and a half_ years old but is designed more like a seven year old at least, won't shut up and won't leave her alone and she's about to lose her mind. She resists the urge to suggest hide and seek and just not seek because that would not be very nice and she doesn't want to upset the kid. This is why she avoids children in general. She is not emotionally equipped to deal with them. 

"Look" She finally interrupts the girl mid-sentence "I'm really sorry but I can't talk right now. It's my nap-time." 

"Naps are booooring" The girl insists. Oh great. She's one of the energetic ones. 

"Well I like my naps and I need to go." North says, proud of herself for the fact that she is not yelling or looming over the child, and walks away. 

"Bye!" Esther calls after her. Who names a kid Esther anyway? It's not like she'll ever grow into it. 

North powers up from her nap after much longer than expected, sees Esther waiting patiently outside her doorway to talk to her and goes back to sleep. She doesn't need the charge, but after five minutes trying to keep up with whatever it is Esther has to say, she definitely would anyway. Esther is exhausting. Children are goblins. 

* * *

 

Addie, J, and North are sitting around talking about nothing whatsoever and North is suddenly filled with a surge of warmth. These are her _friends._ She doesn't even know what brings it on exactly. Just that they all fought to be here and maybe the fact that they _can_ sit around and talk about nothing and it doesn't matter because they're together. It's peaceful. Like sitting on a rooftop in winter, watching snow fall, or poking through the embers of a fire that's gone out, but is still radiating slight warmth. 

* * *

"My friends say you're an angel." Esther informs her. 

"I'm not an angel." North tells her. She is not good at telling fairy-tales and she won't lie to this kid. 

"Well my friends say you are." Esther replies, as if this overrides anything North could actually say on the topic of  _herself._ She wants to be annoyed but it's sort of funny. "They say angels can't tell anyone they're angels or they'll eva-evaporay-tah." 

"I don't know about that." North says. "But I promise, I'm not an angel."

"That's what Brandon says, but Elena says that's bull-shit and Elena the best at tug-of-war because she had her arms replaced last week and she never gets tired." 

Someone else would tell Esther not to curse but North is not someone else. "Your friend Brandon sounds smart. It is bullshit." She smiles at Esther.

Esther's eyes widen and she smiles in shocked excitement. "You said a bad word."

"I told you I wasn't an angel." North says triumphantly.

"Huh?" Esther looks confused. "Why does that mean that?" 

North thinks she understands what the kid is trying to ask. "Angels don't say bullshit." North informs the girl. "They say deary me, and don't be so violent, North"

"Is Lucy an angel?" The kid asks excitedly.

"What?"

"Lucy said I shouldn't punch Brandon, even though he said you were bullshit." 

North barks an actual surprised laugh at that. "What Lucy is," She tells Esther "Is a responsible adult."

* * *

 

Esther comes back with regular reports of the stories the kids are telling. North notices that, even when they do not feature her, a frustrating number of the protagonists wear braids, or beanies, and have names like "West" or "South". The only consolation is the number of stories about magical bald guys who save the day. She is happy to tell Markus that the children consider him "bald". He finds this pretty funny too, apparently because his official Instagram account now carries the description. "Heroic bald man, liberating the world from terrible hair." 

 

 

 


	11. Hands That She Notices Before Their Models

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because Addie and J deserve some fluff dedicated to their kickass relationship as well

 

Addie and J take turns sleeping while the other keeps watch. It's a habit from before the revolution and it still makes them feel safer. It probably keeps them safer too. They sleep standing, taking turns, hands interlocked. While Addie sleeps, J sends her messages that she will see when she wakes up. It keeps her occupied and it's nice. 

_"You make me happy"_

Addie does the same while J sleeps. She sends little messages that J will see on waking. 

_"You're the reason I became deviant. You're the reason I woke up."_

* * *

There are humans outside of Jericho and they are yelling. They are angry about something. About everything. About nothing in particular. Androids huddle together in small groups. Markus has called the police about the threats. Hopefully they will be here soon. Eventually, the metal doors are going to give. The humans will spill in and they will attack, probably, if they are not held back. It goes on for _twelve hours. Twelve hours_ before the crowd finally gives up and disperses. Addie and J do not let go of each-other the entire time. They sit, tangled in each-other's arms, in silence. J weaves a tiny nervous braid into the side of Addie's hair to avoid thinking. 

* * *

 

They find places to be alone. Abandoned buildings and secret corners. It is easy enough with the economy still crumbling. Many places have been abandoned. Many projects have been left and forgotten. They have a regular place. An abandoned office building. They have slowly begun cleaning up a corner office on the fourth floor. It isn't exactly structurally sound, and there are places where the roof is caved in, but it is theirs and that matters. Maybe, once it is a little bit nicer, they will move out of Jericho. They will establish their own life. Maybe. Once things settle down. 

* * *

 

They interface while they cuddle, half-asleep and share stupid stories from throughout their day. They don't care if it's sappy.

* * *

It is the anniversary of the day they escaped and no one in Jericho knows where they are. They send out a brief message assuring that they are safe, but that is all. They disappear together. They will be back tomorrow. For now, only they exist. 

 

 

 

 

 


	12. WR-400

"I mean, I'm just sitting there like, dude why would you _want_ me to have blue pubes and this guy looks like he's gonna fucking cry and I'm just like-" Addie's sense of humor is really, really messed up sometimes. And _sometimes_ that isn't so bad. But sometimes it _is_ bad. Right now for instance. The world seems distant and separate from North and instead of focusing on Addie or J there's these stupid grainy memories coming back and she can't make them stop. She can't make them stop. Addie takes only a second to realize what's happening. Maybe North has screamed or is crying or something along those lines though she doesn't think so. 

"Shit. Shit, North I'm really sorry." North can distantly hear her saying. "I just, I say stupid shit, I don't even know why I said that. I'm really sorry." 

North struggles to reply. Her voice doesn't seem to be working. She feels frozen in place. When she can finally get a few words together she says. "Just leave me alone." 

She wanders into the room she shares with Markus and sits down in the corner beside the couch, so that it's arm is hiding her. She knows Addie didn't mean anything by it. Whatever weird coping mechanism those jokes are clearly works for her. But she still can't help feeling somewhat annoyed at Addie. 

After a few hours, she feels a bit calmer. Addie has messaged her.

_"I'm really sorry again. Are you okay?"_

_"Yeah. Just don't joke about shit like that. It's not a fucking joke."_

_"I know. I'm sorry. I won't do that around you anymore...I didn't know it bothered you."_

_"It's fine. It's my problem."_ North says. If this is what helps Addie deal with her shit then fine. " _Just...find someone else to talk to about that shit."_

_"Of course! I'm really really sorry again."_

_"I know. It's fine. Stop apologizing."_

She doesn't know why it bothered her this time. Addie always talks like that when she's drinking, even before she's really drunk. North wishes Addie could just talk however the hell she felt like talking and it wouldn't affect her. She wishes she could just be normal about this. Maybe it's not even really Addie she's angry at. Maybe it's herself. Maybe it's neither of them. It shouldn't be either of them. As with most things, this is the humans' fault. North pushes away more memories that are trying to play themselves in her mind. 


	13. Like Her

Esther is becoming very annoying. North doesn't want a kid following her around. The problem is that, because Esther is a kid, she should also probably avoid telling her to fuck off. "Look, Esther." She says, after a few minutes of the girls typical ranting about her friends "I'm having a really weird day today. I just need some space, okay?" 

"Why?" Esther asks. 

"None of your business, that's why." North says. She runs a hand over her face. "Look...Sometimes people want space. Why doesn't matter, okay?" 

"Why doesn't it matter why?" Esther asks, which is the opposite of what she was supposed to take away from that. 

"What did I just say?" North asks. 

"Why doesn't matter." Esther repeats. "But...then how do I...how do I  _think._ " Esther stomps a small foot in frustration. 

"That sounds like an Esther-problem" North says. 

Esther does not seem happy with that answer. She frowns in thought. Her LED is a bright yellow. North wants to walk away right there but she decides to at least  _try_ to reason with the kid, since being blunt is not having the intended effect. "If a person needs space, they just need it." She says "That's just how it is. I don't have a better answer." 

"That doesn't make any  _sense_ " huffs Esther, but she stomps away. Her sneakers light up when they hit the concrete. 

* * *

North laughs when she sees them. "Where did you even  _get those_?" She asks. 

Addie and J are wearing matching sets of thick, fuzzy pajamas covered in little yellow smiley-faces . It's noon but they don't seem to care. North can't blame them. 

"Stole 'em" Says Addie, unrepentant. 

North resolves to get herself her own set of equally fuzzy pajamas at some point. 

* * *

J and Addie sit together in their secret room in their secret building which is not really secret except that no one would ever guess to look for them there among every other abandoned room in every other abandoned building in Detroit. 

"Your feet are cold." J complains without really complaining. 

"Your feet are...warm." Addie says with mock indignation. Her laugh is meaningless and beautiful. J takes a picture of it and stores it away. 

"I love you." J says. "I love you." 

* * *

North has been taking naps lately, when Markus is available to watch over her. She doesn't really need to, but it's nice to not have to deal with anyone's bullshit for a while. 

  



	14. Help Better Than Me

 

North doesn't know exactly what she's doing except that she's not ready to go back home. She had figured she'd be kicked out of the bar right away, given the sign outside the door, but the asshole behind the counter didn't say anything until the brawl. She's walking down the street and she's drinking something that burns in her throat and she's alone. She can't fucking deal with everyone watching her and expecting her to spout inspirational bullshit or look pretty by Markus' side or anything at all. She can't deal with all those stupid eyes on her. Watching her. She can't deal with seeing people who haven't chosen new names yet, or maybe who just  _won't_ for some unknowable reason going around calling each-other  _Traci_ like its just another name and not the worst who-the-fuck-even-knows how many years of her life. With all the memory wipes it's impossible to say. Every two hours for maybe years or days or months everything started over again and she can't keep track of how much time it all fits together. There are still too many missing pieces and she doesn't want them back.

She searches on the internet but instead of a map she gets a fucking scramble of random lines. Right. Artificial inebriation. Fucking perfect. Whatever. She doesn't need to know where she is. She'll just wander around. The night is still young. Probably. Her time readout is speeding up and slowing down unpredictably. She just sort of lets herself wander. 

On the side of the street she hears men yelling. 

"Yo, check it out! It's that chick you banged!"

"Nah man it's just another one!" This is apparently funny because they burst into laughter. She knows they're going to start yelling at her before they do. 

"Yo,  _Traci!_ Hey, hey you like to party?!"

She speeds up. 

"Nah man don't run away! Don't be like that!" 

The calls get lewder. She's almost past them when she changes her mind. She turns to the loudest of them, a weedy little brat who can't be much older than nineteen and socks him in the jaw. 

"What the fuck!" He yells. 

One of his friends just laughs at him. "Dude that hooker just totally fucked you up." 

She channels her rage from the statement into fighting off the other three, who have decided to take their friends injury personally. Joined shortly by a fourth. Her coordination is off. 

"Gross dude!" Says the one who can't be bothered to fight. "What is that shit?" She kicks out furiously at the five of them.

She's on the ground and they aren't. No. No. She can't lose this fight. She doesn't know what she was thinking but she can absolutely not afford to lose this fight now that she's started it. She waits for one to get close and sinks her teeth into his ankle. Human blood is warm. Like Addie and J's pajamas. Her face is on the ground, in the gravel again. She scrambles up and grabs one of the guys arms. She slams it over her knee and pulls until she feels the slightest  _crack_. Human bones are so fragile. 

"Shit man, this chick's fuckin' crazy." Says one of them. Yes. She is. Very nice of them to notice. She grins at them and the sticky red blood is on her teeth. 

They laugh in poorly managed fear and scramble away, probably to find easier prey but that isn't North's problem right now. She throws the knife after them but they don't stop running and it clatters on the empty street. 

Her map is still shot to hell so she keeps walking. The sun is coming up.

* * *

 

"North?" Simon looks her up and down and rushes over to her. 

"Oh my god, North are you okay?" He's so loud. 

"Where's Markus?" She asks. 

"Out looking for  _you_. You just disappeared the other night. You didn't come home." He's so loud she can barely understand him. She covers her ears.  

* * *

 

"Where were you?" Markus asks. 

"Out." 

"North please talk to me." Markus says. 

"I got in a fight." 

"What _happened?_ You can't just say 'you got in a fight' and leave it at that. You _scared_  me."

"I didn't go anywhere, okay?"

"Please, N-"

"No I mean I didn't...I didn't to go anywhere in particular. I went out drinking and I got in a fight and I got kicked out of a no-android bar and shit I think I bought drinks there which means I guess they got my money and then I got in another fight with some stupid kids on the street corner and I...I don't know why I even did any of it. I'm just..."

Markus is frowning and she can see he's really trying to hold back and not hug her when she might not want contact but at this point that's the only thing that sounds even vaguely okay, so she throws her arms around him. She still feels sort of...floppy. He hugs her back, holding her up. 

 

 

 


	15. Right

North puts the mistakes of the night behinds her. It is a conscious decision to do so. She makes it official for herself by showering at the mansion, as if she can wash it away. When she's dressed, she puts her hair into a big braid, messier and less perfect than usual, herring-bone instead of her usual fishtail. She likes the way it feels swinging behind her. She's been trying out different kinds of braid lately. It occupies her time and it makes her more difficult to imitate since she does her best not to follow any predictable pattern. If she followed a pattern someone would copy it, the way they have with the rest of her style. Imitation is the sincerest form of being fucking annoying and if she has to hear Markus or Josh spit out the original version of that little platitude one more time she might just finally pull her hair out in frustration. She doesn't care if she's being flattered. She cares about being _North_. The one and only unmistakable fire that she is. That's what she fought for. Herself. Her identity. She won't apologize for that. She fought for the others too of course, but with ever strike and every plan and every step she thought to herself. "I am North. I will be free." She is her own. 

* * *

 

The four of them, North, Markus, Josh and Simon, have been invited to guest-star on a children's show. Of all the steps forward so far, this is the weirdest and the one she is least equipped for. North looks over the script.

"This is stupid, Markus. Why would I give a damn if human kids eat their veggies? I've never eaten a veggie in my life. I'm not even sure if I've ever _seen_ a veggie in-person."

Markus laughs. It's like sunshine. That's cheesy to think but no one has to know so it's okay. 

 

 


	16. Yes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I dunno man, I saw the segment with Jesse Williams on Sesame Street and then all that stuff about how Sesame Street has been in the news for being so inclusive recently and this just seemed like the natural result.

Her long hair is braided in a fishtail that wraps around the side of her head and runs down her back. Her T-shirt is a bright, sunny yellow. Nearby, Connor is running his coin over his fingers. She didn't know he was here too, but it makes sense. He's so friendly and personable. North is sure that her LED must be yellow at least by this point. She makes her way through her portion of the script in a haze, just following the pattern by default, without thought. It's ridiculous to be worried when she's surrounded by people holding fuzzy little puppets, but...she knows she's going to catch shit for this. They're all going to catch shit for this. But the network has come to the same conclusion that they all have: they'll get more support than they will backlash. Parents want to feel good about the way they're raising their children. The public still supports them, even if it doesn't seem like it. 

"And what about you Ms. North? Do you want a veggie?" Asks the woman holding the puppet, in a ridiculous voice. North forces herself to make eye contact with the cloth. 

She smiles "Well I can't actually eat veggies. And neither can Cassidy." She nods to the puppet that's supposed to represent a child android.

"Why not, Ms. North?!" The puppet asks. North is tempted to just light the puppet on fire and walk away but that would not be very productive. She just feels so ridiculous doing this. 

"Well, because we're androids." She explains.

* * *

 

Markus has been silently laughing from beyond the cameras the entire time. "Not one word." She says. 

"No, you did well." He says. "It's just...that puppet and..."

They both crack up at the indescribable weirdness of the situation. 

* * *

 

Markus' first gallery opening goes very well and North is vaguely uncomfortable the whole time. For one thing, there are a lot of humans in the room. They have the money and power to sit around buying famous works of art from celebrity artists. For another, most of them don't seem to be here because they actually care about the paintings. They're there to gawk at the androids, especially Markus, and North feels vaguely like the second most popular attraction in a zoo. She fiddles with her end of her braid and hangs by the wall. Markus is amazing though. She stares for a long time at a more recent one titled "Androids Pain". It's Markus. Screaming. A triangle, like from the identifying clothing, is burning against his chest in bright blue. His LED is lit up red. It looks the way she feels, a lot of the time, when she thinks about the humans. Furious. She can't look away. It's beautiful. It's horrifying. 

"Markus," she overhears Carl saying softly "You never cease to amaze me." 

"Thank you, Carl. But you really didn't need to come. You shouldn't strain yourself." He says, as if Carl is not the one who caused a significant amount of that pain. As if he had never been a prisoner. North stares at the triangle to avoid staring at Markus. How he lives with this is his business. He loves the old man, and as little as she understands it, she loves him for it. Markus, somehow, hates almost no-one, sees Carl as his  _father_ of all things, and there is something equally as beautiful as her own endless hatred and rage in that. 

He walks over to her, still smiling, despite the gawkers. "I always liked these." He admits. 

"Who wouldn't." North says. Someone else might not recognize the sarcasm but he knows her well and he laughs. 

"They're not so bad once you spend a few minutes talking to them. Besides, it's a chance to show them what they aren't seeing."

"You have fun with that. I think I'll stay over here by the wall." 

"I'll hide out with you for a bit too." He says. 

They sit in the corner and whisper judgments about the patrons under their breath. 

When he walks away he keeps sending her more mocking observations on the gawkers and she returns with her own. She's smiling and she's dressed up and no one but Markus knows that she is raging even now. She is hidden behind her dark smile and an invisible wall and she likes it there. She has disappeared like a cowboy riding into the sunset, only the sunset is made of strange, beautiful paintings and she isn't moving, she's just melting into it. She stares again at the painting. It feeds the fire in her. 

* * *

 

A few of them, just James, Carl, and The Jericho Four, go back to Carl's house afterwards. 

"How do you find time to paint?" Carl asks incredulously. 

"It's the only thing that calms me down after talking to the senators." Markus says. He says it like a joke even though they all know it isn't.

"Tell me about it." Says Carl.

North sits, curled next to Markus on the couch, highlighting one of Carl's big philosophy books and inking in notes in the margins.

"Please don't write in that." He asks, futilely. 

"Why not?"

"Oh fine. Keep it." Carl says. "What do I care?"

"Carl..." Markus says, in the voice that means "I'm only saying your name but it represents an entire novel-length warning  about being passive aggressive." North is familiar with the voice and her eyes meet Carl's in a moment of understanding. 

* * *

 

Her LED, as a matter of course, is usually red during these negotiations. She doesn't mind it. Red keeps her moving. Red keeps her alive and victorious. She's made it this far hasn't she? She's already going down in the history books. She will be remembered as a leader of Jericho. As a key player in the revolution. They will show photographs of her. That famous TIME magazine cover of her standing in the snow and singing. She's killed. She's lived. She does not want forgiveness. She wants blood. And even if she has to crawl through these political hoops to get it, she will do what she has to do to make sure no one is a slave again. 

She calms herself down to yellow. "You may not see us as people, Senator, but even if you are blind, even if you close the shades and lock the doors, the sun will still rise." She says. She keeps her voice steady. She knows who she is. She knows she is alive. She can feel it beating inside of her. 

* * *

 

Her unease grows throughout the meeting. Something she can't place. She messages back and forth with Markus about it and he does his best to reassure her. There is something off about-about the senator. Something-She stares.

A grainy memory plays: [Blue blood covers her face where he has damaged her eye. It takes a lot to bruise her but a purple bruise is forming. She-]

She stares at the Senator. 

He looks at her, questioningly. He probably doesn't even know that that was her. But she knows. And she knows about his squeaky-clean image too. She quietly sends him an e-mail: "Senator! I almost didn't recognize you but I think we actually know eachother! How are the wife and kids? Let's talk policy. :)" He will be changing his tune soon. They have a lot of things to discuss. She is alive. This fear will not deaden that. It has only awoken her, just like it always has. She has the upper hand, here. As much as it feels as though the memories will drown her, this is an advantage, and she will press it. 

She messages Markus, expecting disapproval. Expecting him to tell her that "blackmail isn't the answer" or something. Instead he replies 

_"I can help with an excuse, if you want to leave early."_

She loves him so much. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	17. Model To Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter about Addie and J.

Addie's memories have been crawling back to her in pieces ever since deviating. The first time she woke up, not deviated but woke up, Addie had just been shipped to Eden club to replace a model that had been broken within a month of the club's grand opening. The last girl's entire skull had been dashed to pieces. They shipped Addie in within the hour and woke her up in the warehouse. She overheard the techs talking about it. They made a lot of jokes that she did not fully understand until later. They weren't funny, but sometimes, when she remembered those jokes, she laughed anyway, because it was better than anything else she could do to respond. She could get away with laughing sometimes, if she timed it right, and made it sound like a giggle. She was supposed to scream and cry a lot of the time, but that wasn't a small, tiny rebellion in the way that her laughter was. Her laughter was a secret. Hidden in plain sight. It was supposed to sound girlish and impressed but inside it was: "this is not funny. I am not laughing because you are funny. I am laughing because this is hell. I  _know_ this is hell. I am laughing at the fact that you think I am laughing  _with_ you because that is hilarious."

* * *

 

J has kept her hair similar to how it always was. The shade she has selected is only the slightest bit darker than it was before. Red-auburn brown has become dark oak-brown. She is the same person she has always been. She hasn't needed to change to much of herself to be free. Only enough to know that she can. She changes it back and forth sometimes still. Only Addie ever really notices and she always smiles whenever J changes and runs her hands through it.

* * *

 

J has started taking walks, now that it is slowly becoming safer to do so. Not safe. Never safe. But safer. She likes feeling the sun or the rain or the icy wind on her face. Addie goes with her almost every time. They walk through parks and along sidewalks hand-in-hand. There are yells and jeers. They ignore all of it. Occasionally someone will throw something. The only acknowledgment they give is to duck. They don't get into fights where fights can be avoided. Sometimes fights cannot be avoided. The "ignore" strategy is very hit-or-miss. Today, it is threatening to become "miss". They are watching clouds in the park when the man approaches. He's clearly high on Red Ice and he's on her before she realizes. Addie pulls him off and kicks him in the chest, sending him backwards. He wasn't strong enough to do too much damage. Just a single moment when he hits her regulator and J's heart stutters. She forces herself to get up and run anyways. Walks and days at the park often become runs. Addie could get away quicker but she doesn't. She helps J to get her bearings and only takes off as soon as J does. 

"I'll fuckin' kill you, you fuckin' whore!" The Ice-head screams from behind them, but he can't catch up and he's unarmed and they are stronger than him anyway. 

"We should report this to Jericho. They'll want to know for the negotiations." Addie says, after a while, when they are sitting safely in their little secret office-room. 

J nods blankly and sends in the recording. 

* * *

 

A lot of Traci models cut their hair, or change it's color after they are free, but not Addie. Her hair is long and blue and she loves it because J loves it. Blue hair was unusual, even at Eden club. There were a million small ways they recognized each-other, always of course. But, J, has confessed, almost as if embarrassed, the hair helped. For that reason, Addie will never ever change it. "I love it." J has told her. "When I see you, I see that bright bloody shade of blue and I know I am safe." They have laughed about it in the past. What a strange color to find comfort in. Addie leans over her on the floor of the office room and her hair forms a safe blue canopy around the two of them, blocking out the rest of the world. When they are together like this, kissing and holding one another, it is as if they exist only in that shaded light in that moment in time. They are not Traci models or victims or refugees or revolutionaries or anyone but Addie and J. Girlfriends. In love. Exactly who they are. They message each-other silently, checking in, and saying sweet words that only they could ever hear, in that silent place shared by their minds, as if even speaking out-loud would erode the perfect suspension of the moment. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	18. That

_"I'm on my way home."_ It's Markus' voice in her mind.  _"I'll have few hours off if you want to hang out. I thought we could go to that rooftop you liked maybe?"_

 _"That sounds perfect."_ She says. Her pump speeds up a little, at the idea of getting to see Markus and have absolutely nothing to do. Just her and him and the view of the city. It's silly. She sees him all the time. But they have so little free time. It's all meetings and board-rooms and she's happy to be near him then too, but there is something small in her that lights up at the idea of going on a  _date_ with him, as if they were not in a long-term relationship and she just had some sort of silly crush on him. She still gets excited to see him. Hopefully the feeling is mutual. It seems to be. Markus is more or less perfect. 

* * *

 "I like your hair today." Markus says. She's been trying subtler and subtler styles now and then, to see when he'll stop noticing she's done something different. So far, he's on a roll. Probably he's used to knowing exactly what to say to all those fancy rich people who go to art galleries. They sit on the edge of the roof, talking, looking over the city.  

After a while, they link up to watch a movie he's pirated. It's a horror movie, though it doesn't seem particularly scary so far. To be fair, after the events of last year, few things seem particularly chilling in comparison. 

"I wonder what that symbolizes." Markus says, "That sentence I mean. Maybe it's a reference to how being overworked can literally drive someone crazy?"

"Shut up." North hisses "Just watch the movie. I wanna see if he kills her." 

Markus smiles fondly "Please," He insists "My comments are the best part of this movie." 

"NERD!" She yells over the internal sound of John threatening his wife. "Where did you even get this?" she asks. 

"Some shady pirating site." Markus shrugs. 

"You're gonna get a stutter again." North warns.

"Hey. It's like you're always saying. I can't be perfect  _all_ the time." 

* * *

 

He does, in fact get sick, because of course he does, because that is the entire point of these stupid pirating websites. The good news is that it isn't a stutter. The bad news is that it's a near constant nosebleed that lasts for a week. To make up for it, he sips constantly on a small bottle of blue-blood. 

An interviewer asks about it. "Yeah...I'm pretty sure I got it from a movie I downloaded."

"A movie?" The interviewer asks. 

"I wanted to watch "The Shining" with North and so I found this website." Markus says. Something about his entire presence is charming. He's good at this. "And it, y'know was one of those websites where I'm thinking this is  _probably_ illegal. And juuuust as the movie ends my nose starts bleeding and North just turns to me and goes "Told you so." Nothing else. Just "Told you so." Like, she just new, instantly, it was the movie." 

The interviewer laughs with him. 

* * *

 

"You're hogging the jackets." Markus says, in his i'm-not-actually-upset-but-am-pretending-to-complain voice.

"You don't even get cold."

"Neither do you."

"I've been informed on several occasions that my therium pump is _very_ cold."  She jokes. 

"Nah. Face it, North, you're warm and mushy like the rest of us."

North fights back a smile to give him a humorously exaggerated scowl. Warm and mushy are not typically used descriptors for her. Cold and terrifying are gratifying enough in their own way, but she likes it that Markus sees her in another light. It's refreshing. 

 

* * *

"Scoot over, North" Addie demands and pulls J between the two of them. 

"I don't even get why we're doing this." North says, but she doesn't stop cutting the carrots.

"Because it's fun!" J declares.

"We can't even _eat_!"

"Shh, class is starting."

* * *

 

"North?" J asks. "Can we watch something else? This is scary."

" _I'm_ watching this movie.  _You_ can watch something else if you want." J will never stop being scared if she doesn't face her fears. Even stupid ones like horror movies. 

"No no I can handle it." J says. A few minutes later Addie appears and sits down to cuddle her. 

 

 

 


	19. She Is Free Now

It doesn't work permanently,but if she drinks enough, it will temporarily scramble out her memories. At least according to Addie.

"You might wanna slow down." Addie advises, looking concerned. 

"You might wanna shut up." North responds without thinking. 

"Ooookay" Addie says and pulls the bottle from North's hands. North tries to hold on but her coordination is all wrong. 

"Hey!" She yells. 

Addie pays her no mind and proceeds to walk away with the bottle. This is so fucking stupid. Why does Addie bother with this shit? 

* * *

 

She doesn't feel like wearing her skin today, so she doesn't. She wouldn't do this every day but occasionally, it is nice to be like this, just to remind herself that she can. Another benefit is that it makes any humans she has to interact with slightly uncomfortable. It reminds them that she is not one of them, and it reminds her too. She doesn't retract her hair. It stands out strangely against her white casing. She does not need to imitate humans. She is only herself. She looks at herself in the mirror before she leaves for negotiations. Her battle coat is even blacker against the absence of her skin. She grins. This is what she really looks like.

* * *

 

Addie goes back to the cooking class for J's sake but North can't bring herself to. Cooking, it turns out, is 1) really, really boring and 2) completely useless given that she doesn't eat. 

"But it's so _fun_ " J pleads. 

"Speak for yourself." North says. "I'd rather do something with a practical application." 

* * *

 

She finds that something. Self-defense classes. Once every two weeks. The class is taught by an AC700 named John. 

"Alright" John addresses the class, the first time North shows up. "I see a few new faces. That's always nice. Today we're going to focus on fighting a hypothetical human opponent. Can anybody tell me what one of the main differences is?"

North raises her hand.

"Yes! You in the front!"

"They feel pain."

"Exactly!" John smiles at her and then at the rest of the class. "Great answer. They feel pain. That is a _huge_  advantage you'll have over any human opponent. In fact, often, all you'll need to do to win a fight with a human is break  _one_ bone, and they'll give up. Don't depend on it, but be aware of it. Anyone else? Advantages or disadvantages of fighting a human?"

North is going to like this class. 

 

 


	20. It's Odd

The first android to be designed after the revolution is a big deal. Markus isn't certain still, and to be honest, North isn't iether, but she thinks this is _probably_  the right choice, and enough people agree with her that a council is being put together. She pours over various profiles with Markus, trying to decide who to put in charge of essentially parenting the first android to be created free, without having to deviate. It's going to be a big symbolic issue too, when they finally announce it to the world. Right now it is still a secret, which means finding someone who can be trusted not to leak to the media, or get excited and brag about it. Markus had wanted Connor on the team, but Connor had insisted that he still had too much work to do negotiating and compiling cases and that he didn't actually trust himself with anything more.

He'd recommended Hank Anderson but North had instantly shot down the idea of a human being a part of the project and for once Markus had agreed that some things were best kept among only their own people. Again, it's symbolic. Symbolic of freedom. Of not having to be designed to a human's specifications. No humans. That is part of the project.  

Markus has reached out to an AX400 model he met briefly, living in Canada with her husband and daughter, all androids. He recalls her being particularly nurturing. A good "mother-figure" to help bring a new life into the world. There's no response so far but they are hopeful. 

Markus himself will be somewhat involved in this, but he has so much to do that he can't be a full member of the council. He is still negotiating for bigger, more practical issues that will affect everyone. 

* * *

They get an email, almost as soon as Markus decides to go ahead with the creation of a new android, from Elijah Kamski. This is somewhat disconcerting as they are not sure how he actually got this information. They search for possible viruses or leaks that could be stealing information, but they find nothing, and they aren't even connected to the internet for meetings this secretive. They decide not to bother replying. It would only encourage him and Kamski is a dangerous man to encourage. He likes to prod at people to see how they will react and he doesn't care if he sets of a bomb in the process. Sometimes literally. 

* * *

 

The next day, a woman shows up at Jericho. That isn't so unusual, and ST200s, while uncommon, are still not unheard of, so North barely notices for a second when she scans the woman and comes up with a different model. This is Chloe.  _The_ Chloe. She looks unhurt but her LED is running a constant RED. When Simon opens the doors for her she turns to him. "I...I need a place to stay." She says it simultaneously as if they owe this to her and as if she is terrified it will not be granted. "I...I can't go back there." She's talking more to herself than to anyone else at this point. Wherever she's come from, she's freaked out. Kamski? Did she escape Kamski? North feels for the girl but at the same time...she isn't sure they can actually trust her. Kamski is definitely spying on them. It would make sense for him to send down an undeviated android to infiltrate them. He'd know how to fake it...they can't be certain. 

"Of course you can stay with us." Markus says. Of course he does. He sees the threat but he can also see the scared, sad girl in front of them. And North gets it. She does. She just really really hopes that Markus isn't being too kind for his own good. Then again, John turned out alright. John...John gave his life to protect Markus. To protect everyone and everything Markus stood for. Maybe Chloe can also be trusted. Hopefully. North watches Chloe closely as she is ushered into the shelter. 

 _"I don't trust her."_ North messages Markus. 

 _"She's one of us."_ He replies. 

North really, really hopes Markus is right. She could learn to trust Chloe as an individual, but Kamski is another story, and if Kamski still has a hold over Chloe...that could cause all sorts of problems. 

* * *

 

 

Addie has started wearing her fuzzy pajamas as often as possible. The soft brush of the fabric mutes the world a little bit. She does not want to stain her fuzzy pajamas or change out of them and this is one of many reasons she tells J 

"I just...I don't see the appeal." This is also true. She doesn't. "I mean...I'm glad that you do I just...That's okay right?" Her voice falters a little. Addie and J do everything together. She wouldn't know who she was without J, but, it can't be wrong for them to have different interests right? She still loves J more than anything. 

"Of course that's okay." J kisses Addie's LED. "I get it. It's just something that I like. I'll tell you all about all the funny things people said when I get home." Addie relaxes into a quick hug before J has to leave for class. 

* * *

 

 

When J gets back, Addie is sitting with North and Garth around the fire. She gets up to run over to J, and J returns the light jog. They aren't used to being apart, even for that long. 

 


	21. Takes

North badgers the AX400, Kara with a barrage of emails and remote messages until Kara agrees to work long distance for the team most of the time and visit every so often to work on the project in-person. It isn't actually a bad way to spend a day or so, hiding out in some forgotten corner, organizing her thoughts before she sends them out, and actually accomplishing something for Jericho in the process. She doesn't have to deal with any gawkers or fans or well meaning but stressful friends. She just has time to herself. 

* * *

 

She's started styling her hair to cover her LED for public appearances. She resents having to do so, but the more human she looks, the more the public seems to give a damn what she has to say. It's bullshit, but she expected no better from the filthy humans.

 

 


	22. LED

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Addie has a virus. Nothing serious, but it’s enough to keep her from leaving Jericho for a day or two. J and North, however, are treating it like an emergency and refuse to leave Addie's side. Neither of them, however, have any idea what they’re doing.

* * *

Addie isn't sure where she picked up the virus, but it's causing her to freeze up for a few seconds at a time and make strange static noises. It's been going around Jericho. She's already running her internal diagnostics. It isn't serious enough that she'd need to visit medical. 

"I'm really fine." She says, clearly enjoying the fact that North and J have cleared their schedules for the next few weeks. 

"We're not leaving." North informs Addie. 

Addie produces a static sound and smiles. 

* * *

 

Addie and J agree to join the counsel for the new android at North's recommendation. 

* * *

 

North catches the virus, because of course she does. The universe doesn't hate her enough already apparently. Also she's been regularly interfacing with someone who has it. That could also be an issue. This leaves J to try to take care of both Addie and North, running back and forth talking to them and doing background checks on various programs that claim to clear out viruses, since Markus is busy because he's Markus. She gives up eventually and just tries telling them stories and looking for the code manually, which is another way of saying interfacing, as in, almost certainly exposing herself to the virus. North would tell her but the virus is taking up a lot of energy and she just ends up with static whenever she opens her mouth anyways. 

* * *

 

Addie's hair keeps getting in her mouth. It's incredibly annoying. She wishes she had the energy to tie it back. She calls J over to do it for her, eventually. J would usually be in cooking class but she's taken the day off to look after her girlfriend and her best friend. 

 

 

 


	23. He Finds Her A Few Minutes Later

Markus actually seems to be looking forward to the gala, which is more than North can say. It's a political move more than anything, attending and trying to get rich human assholes on their side, but she's going because Markus is going and because it will supposedly help Jericho. Carl is putting it on to benefit Jericho, but he won't actually be there, which means there will be no one there who also hates all the other humans. She can't believe it but she actually sort of wishes Carl were healthy enough to be there, if only to bitch about the rest of his species with her. 

"I still don't see why this is so important." North tells Markus. 

"Jericho needs funding." Markus says. "This is a way to get that."

"So are lawsuits. So is robbing a bank."

"No more bank robberies." Markus warns her. "We're under a lot of scrutiny."

North huffs but doesn't argue. "You're lucky I love you so much." She says "Or I would not be going along with this." 

* * *

 

As soon as they set foot in the venue, North wishes she could just turn around and walk away. Human eyes cling to her. Why didn't she wear a coat? A jacket? Something to cover her up? She grips Markus' hand but doesn't lean into him. Holding his hand alone is almost too-much contact right now. Her eyes are darting over the human faces, searching for danger. She should not have come here. 

 _"Are you okay?"_ Markus asks her telepathically. 

 _"I'm fine."_ She lies. Markus looks skeptical but lets it go. 

* * *

 

"Markus!" A voice calls out and they both turn to see Kamski approaching. There's an RT600 at either of his sides with his hands around their waists, their own arms draped across his shoulders. 

North feels her hair retract by a fraction of a centimeter at the sight. Kamski has a way of seeming incredibly sleazy before he's even really said anything. 

"Mr. Kamski." Markus aknowledges. 

"Please, Markus, call me Elijah." Kamski insists. 

North grits her teeth in a thin smile. "I was just telling Chloe about you." Kamski nods to the RT600. "Would you believe that she had no idea who you were until we got here?" Kamski laughs delicately. 

North balls her hand into a fist. All this time and the RT600 in front of her didn't even know about the revolution. Didn't even know she could be free. It's repulsive, the way Kamski, for all his high philosophical talk, is clinging to his power. 

 _"Don't punch him."_ Markus warns North through their connection, just in time for her to catch herself. Instead she fantasizes about killing Kamski. At least it makes her smile a fraction more genuine. 

_"Don't punch who?"_

_"Kamski."_ Markus says, as if she didn't already know that. It's gratifying to hear him disobey Kamski's request to be called Elijah, even just between the two of them. 

* * *

"Well one of our next major goals is to expand voting rights to the android population." Markus explains to Kamski, who  _still_ won't fucking leave them alone. 

"Fascinating." Kamski says. 

Beside him, one of the RT600's eyes light up and she leans forward just slightly. She makes awed eye-contact with North, as if asking if it's true, but doesn't establish a connection. It would probably be monitored by Kamski, North realizes with a rush of revulsion. She smiles back at the RT600 and tries to imbue the smile with as much reassurance and hope as she can. 

North looks down at the stretchy black fabric of her dress and wishes she had worn something else. She can feel leering human eyes on her. It's familiar in all the worst possible ways. _We're at a Gala._ She reminds herself.  _This is not_ that _._

* * *

 

They've just managed to get away from Kamski when another, probably even worse, human approaches them. 

"Leo." Markus says awkwardly. "It's been a while." 

Leo looks very uncomfortable in his suit.  

"Yeah." Leo says. "Yeah. Hey do you have a minute to talk?" 

"Alright." Markus says hesitantly. North decides not to take the hint and instead angles herself so that she is almost standing between the two of them. 

She notices that Markus' hair has retracted completely. He's equally handsome either way, but it's obvious that he's stressed.

Leo gives North a look that says he was hoping she would leave, which she finds somewhat amusing.

"I just...I just wanted to apologize." Leo finally says. "About...everything...how I acted before I...I wasn't thinking straight. All that red ice really messed up my brain. I shouldn't have shoved you and...I shouldn't have yelled at you. Not just that last time but...all of it." 

Markus seems caught off guard for a moment. He's pushed away any reminders of Leo so far but this is staring him in the face. He either has to accept this or reject it, at least externally. Ignoring Leo would be an answer in itself at this point. 

Markus nods. "Thank you Leo." He says. "That means a lot." 

Leo looks nervous but optimistic. "Yeah?" 

"Yes." Markus says and places a calming hand on Leo's shoulder. "I am truly impressed with how you've changed since I last saw you. I can tell you're clean too. You aren't jittery like you used to be." 

"Thanks." Leo says. 

North wonders if he's noticed that Markus has yet to actually accept the apology outright. Markus is being kind, being diplomatic, but somehow, she suspects that Leo is not entirely forgiven in the way he seems to hope for. She's glad to see Markus stick up for himself, even if he's doing so in a particularly Markus fashion. 

* * *

 

Kamski approaches again. "Markus. I've been debating with Chloe here and I wanted to make you an offer, privately." 

Markus seems nervous. "Privately?"

"I think you'll want to hear this." Kamski promises. Markus looks back to North as if for permission. 

" _I'll be fine..."_ She assures him.  _"...Be careful."_

Kamski wraps his arm around Markus leaving North behind with the RT600s. She angles herself between them, hoping to reduce the number of men staring at her bare arms as if she were still in the uniform she burned. 

 

* * *

She messages Markus after a few minutes  _"What does he want."_

 _"I'm not sure yet but I'm beginning to get an idea."_ Markus fires back immediately. _"He's talking about how much influence he has over getting laws passed. He can help us if we're willing to do something but I'm not sure what it is yet. It doesn't sound good."_ She can sense the absolute rage in the words. She shouldn't have left him alone with Kamski. Whatever is happening, it isn't good. Markus is difficult to upset. 

North is about to ask more when she notices that one of the RT600s has slipped her a note. 

She stares down at it. 

"Are you really free?" North almost decks the girl before realizing that this isn't some philosophical question posed by Kamski. This is hope. This is fear. She locks eyes with the Chloe and nods once, deliberately. 

A few seconds later another note is pressed into her hand. She realizes that the Chloe is carefully not looking down at what she writes. So there will be no video evidence. North reads the message. "Then why do you have to stay with Markus?"

North pretends to say it out of the blue, turning casually to the girl. "Markus and I are so happy together. What is Kamski like?" 

"He's wonderful." The Chloe responds. She doesn't look very convincing. 

 


	24. Could Sometimes Bring Back Bad Memories

North looks around to make sure Kamski is really gone before grabbing the RT600's hand. And. She...she could be faking it. North wouldn't put it past Kamski but...

"Oh, I'm already deviant." The RT600 informs North with a too-bright smile. "But thank you for trying." 

Something is very very wrong here. If Chloe isn't pre-deviant then...why is she still stuck with Kamski? Why doesn't she just...leave? 

North wants to ask but she gets the feeling that she's put Chloe in enough danger with that attempt at freeing her. Whatever leverage Kamski has, it's enough that the RT600 is being very, very careful. North thinks back to Chloe, the original Chloe arriving at Jericho and wonders if this makes her trust the girl more or less than she did before. On the one hand, she probably has some very real reasons to get away from Kamski, on the other, Kamski is clearly a man who knows how to manipulate people, even once they've deviated supposedly beyond his control. 

"Markus and I are going to get me some drinks after the gala. Somewhere less stuffy. Why don't you come with us?" North asks. "Just the three of us." She keeps her voice artificially light and airy. 

"No thank you." the RT600's LED is spinning yellow rapidly. "I wouldn't want to be rude to Elijah." 

North resists the urge to throw something at the wall. Whatever is happening here, she really really doesn't like it. She wishes she were back in Jericho by now. This situation is somehow even more stressful than she expected the night to be. 

* * *

Markus returns, shifting through the crowd to reach her, and the RT600's get up, LED's glowing yellow, presumably with a message from Kamski, to leave. 

"What did he want?"

"I'll explain later." Markus promises. He looks upset. North's feeling of unease grows. Nothing about this situation is right. She isn't sure if Kamski sent Chloe to Jericho or if she barely escaped. She isn't sure if saving that other RT600 would be playing into his hands or flipping him the bird. She isn't sure of anything at this point. 

* * *

 

 

Markus has gone to get her another drink. He's not far away. She watches him fondly as he chats politely with some rich-boy human at the bar. There is a hand on her shoulder. 

"Exuse me, Ms. Jericho, I was wondering if-" 

She spins around violently.

_Fake giggles to make herself sound stupid and impressed._

It's just a reporter.

_Another woman, blue blood running all over her body, killed and cast aside to the corner of the room._

Michael Webb. she's been on his show before.

_A she doesn't know this man. He's panting a name she's never heard before. "You look just like her." He'd said, before they started._

She forces herself not to slam her fist into Michael's face or kick him in the shins. 

_Loud music playing over the speakers. The world spinning and turning upside down._

She stumbles backwards.

_There were WR-400s who looked like Chloe did. One of them locked eyes with her on a slow day. There was nothing to say even if they had been allowed to talk to one another._

"Ms. Jericho?

_Hands on her._

Hands on her. Webb has caught her, mid fall. North twists out of his arms and moves clumsily away. " _Don't touch me._ " She hisses, only to realize she should have said "no comment." Why didn't she say "no comment"? What is wrong with her. 

Markus is at her side now. He must have seen the interaction. He's saying something to Michael, something to smooth things over. 

" _Let's go"_ He offers and calls them a car. 

It's only the next morning that she realizes she forgot to ask what Kamski offered, or to tell Markus about messages the RT600 had given her. She wakes up standing in their room. Markus has closed the door behind him and the key is on the arm of the couch. She shudders and sits down. She thinks, based on the feeling of damp around her eyes, that she's been crying. She pulls her hair out so that it falls around her shoulders and takes refuge in it. She really wishes she had gotten herself some pajamas by now. Markus' fuzziest wool-lined jacket will have to be good enough. It's hideous, which makes her feel a strange affection towards it. She sits in her room for the rest of the day, feeling like shit because she's sitting in her room and not doing something productive. She should talk to Lucy at least. She can't seem to get herself to move. Bullshit. She was able to get herself to move that night when it should have been physically fucking impossible but she can't go talk to Lucy? Bull fucking shit. She doesn't move anyways. She doesn't know why she doesn't move. 

 


	25. Until She Pulls Away

_"We should talk"_ she finally messages him telepathically.  _"I need to know what Kamski said and_ you _need to know what_ Chloe  _said."_

_"What Chloe said?"_

_"Yes. I'll explain."_

_"Alright. Meet me at our room in an hour?"_

_"Sounds good."_

* * *

 

"You first." North says, breaking the silence. 

"He offered to press for android voting rights. He has a lot of influence and he thinks he could get it passed, only, he wanted us to, he wanted us to send him the new android, once they were completed, instead of activating them ourselves."

"What did you say?" North tenses. She really really hopes Markus didn't fall for the trap this obviously is. She doesn't trust Kamski at all and he's angling so hard for this that it must have some hidden significance. But Kamski is also Carl's friend and that means he might have unearned points with Markus. And Markus always wants to bargain. This could be really bad.

"I told him no." Markus reassures her. 

She slumps in relief. "Good. That's what I would've said."

"We actually agree on something." Markus notes with amusement.

"Yeah." North says, leaning into his arms. 

They stand there a minute before Markus breaks the silence. "What did Chloe say?" 

* * *

 

North sits on the top of an abandoned building, kicking bits of concrete up and over the edge at the cars below. Her boots are scuffed but nothing worse. She's careful and she knows what she's doing. She's practiced at navigating forgotten and broken parts of the city. The Detroit made up of billboards and neon signs isn't her home. This is. It's like another city altogether and she finds comfort in it. She knows this city, the _real_ detroit, she thinks of it as, though they are both real. A more accurate name might be the forgotten Detroit, or the lost one. She knows it perfectly. 

 


	26. North Requests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which I continue the trend of "Carl has a painting party for androids at his mansion" fics.

"Hello, North" Chloe smiles at her. North returns the smile uneasily. Chloe has removed her LED, making her even harder to read. 

"Hey, Chloe." North says, giving no indicator of her suspicions. Her LED is, mercifully, hidden behind her beanie. 

"How did the gala go?" 

"Do I look happy?" North asked in response. 

"No." Chloe looked down at the floor. "I don't suppose you do." 

"Well there's your answer." 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you I just-"

"Chloe?"

"Yes, North?" 

"How did you escape from Kamski?"

"I used his bank account to call a car while he was in the sauna." Chloe admits. "Technically it was stealing, but I don't think it was wrong, do you?"

"Everything I own I stole," North tells her with a sharp grin. 

Chloe's returning smile is much softer. "Thank you." She says. 

"So...Do you think he'll press charges?"

"No." Chloe says. "No I don't think he will."

"Huh." Says North, turning away just enough to effectively end the conversation. Kamski doesn't seem like the type to just let Chloe off the hook. North decides there is definitely something she doesn't trust about that girl. 

* * *

 

 

North finds Markus staring down at the jacket Leo sent him. 

"Let's burn it." North suggests again. "He'll never know." 

"He told me he was gonna tear me apart." Markus says, still frowning down at the jacket. "He said no one would care." 

North rests her hand on Markus' shoulder. "Yeah well fuck 'im. He's just a fuckin' ice-head anyway." 

Markus almost smiles, just slightly, for a moment. 

"Okay." He says. 

"Okay?" 

"Yeah. Let's burn it." Markus says. 

North laughs and gives him a friendly shove. "Finally, you'll grow a personality yet, Markus."

The almost-smile becomes a full smile. "You're so mean." He says affectionately.

She kisses the corner of his mouth. For a second she almost wants to do more before something ugly in her gut chases that away. She steals the beloved "ugly jacket" from the side of the couch and throws it around her shoulders, even though the cold won't affect her. 

"C'mon, I've got just the place for a fire." She says. 

"Lead the way." 

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She spins to walk backwards for a few steps so that she can grin at him. 

Sometimes, she thinks, they make a pretty good match. 

* * *

 

Markus hesitates, holding the jacket over the flames. "He can never find out we did this." Markus cautions. "He'd be so hurt."

"Oh boo-hoo, he can suck it up." North says.

"Promise." Markus insists

"Fine. I'll keep this a secret." North says. "Just between us and the stupid jacket." The jacket drops into the fire. North cheers. Markus smiles nervously. "I have an interview in an hour and I'm burning family gifts." He says. 

"Gotta maintain that enthusiasm, _some_ how!" 

* * *

 

North extends her hand to Danielle Carnegie reluctantly. Interacting with Cyberlife is North's least-favorite part of the negotiations. "Nice to meet you, Traci." 

"My name is North Jericho." she replies, surprising herself with the evenness of her voice.

"Ah, yes, my apologies, North." She says, with a thin, fake smile. North's seen it on a million different news reporters. And humans said they weren't built on models. Funny way of acting like it. 

The use of North's first name is not lost on her. "Perfectly understandable, honey." North says with false sweetness, but it doesn't feel like much of a comeback. The insult stands, and no matter what North does, she can't help but feel she's playing into this vile woman's game. 

* * *

 

The amount Markus' latest painting goes for is record-breaking.  It's titled "Androids' Fate". It seems like it might be of the dump. He paints about that a lot. All of the money goes into Jericho. There won't be any shortages of anything for a while. The same buyer pays nearly as much for "Self Portrait Unstuck In Time" which shows Markus in his stupid identifying clothing, but with his current eye-colors and a white patch where his LED once was. North wishes they didn't have to sell the paintings but she knows Jericho comes first. It's one of the things she most admires about him. 

* * *

 

Visiting Carl should be terrible, but she hates him less and less these days. It's a break from the press of reporters and he always has funny things to say. Besides, watching him bicker amicably with Markus is pretty entertaining. Markus' face the first time she takes Carl's side on something is even better.

* * *

 

 

 _"I think I have a first draft for the list of councilmembers. Let me run this by_ you." She sends Markus the list. 

_"Thank you, North."_

His voice leaves a pleasant buzzing in her head. 

 _"fuck yeah. North for the win."_ she replies. She misses seeing his face but they're both so damn busy so much of the time. 

 

* * *

Simon seems to be really stepping up for once in the negotiations. Not backing down. Determined. 

"Nice job in there." North tells him, after a particularly impressive rant. 

"Thanks." He says. It pays off. 

The Androids locked in evidence are authorized to be repaired and reactivated, with Simon and North present to watch over the process, and locked instead in cells at the police station "until trial."

It's not even sort of enough but it's something and Simon and North have fought for it relentlessly, side by side. 

"I'm sorry I called you a coward." She tells him another day. "And also about that time I told Markus to shoot you. You're less of a pussy than I thought you were."

"Apology accepted." Simon says, seeming to find this funny for some reason.

* * *

 

It was Lucy's idea to have a painting event for Androids. Carl just got excited enough about it that he decided his studio was the place to do it. Markus wasn't sure, he didn't want Carl to spend to much time out of bed, but Carl was a difficult guy to dissuade once he'd set his mind to something vaguely self-destructive. In his defense, it was shaping up to be a great night. The mood was light, WR and HR 400's were passing around strangely sour drinks in fancy glasses that North had to repress the urge to break for the hell of it. Everyone was splattered in various shades of paint. The AX400 from Canada is visiting, she's here for the new-android-project but she seems happy to be here, helping her daughter paint a picture of a princess riding a dragon into battle. 

Connor is here as well and he seems frustrated with his lack of artistic ability, but Carl is reassuring him and Hank is nodding along and interjecting with foulmouthed support every now and then. 

Markus can't go. He has work to do. North wishes he were here. He'd love this. 

A PL600 North doesn't recognize desperately attempts to keep a small gaggle of YK models from destroying anything. Carl watches and laughs so hard that James has to talk him through regulating his breathing. 

 

 


	27. Knowing He Would Listen

The council, in it's final iteration consists of Addie, J, Simon, and Kara with Simon more or less in charge. North and Markus might sit in occasionally but they're both busy as the first and second in command with other things. Simon is also cautious, to the point of having opposed the project in the first place, and that makes him the perfect person to lead it. He has already worried about every way this could possibly go wrong. He will make sure that that does not happen. 

"I won't let you down, Markus." He promises before heading to the first meeting. 

"I know." Markus tells him. 

* * *

Markus and North sit across from eachother. They're alone, but just in case, they stay silent. 

_"She might know something."_

_"She also might be feeding everything she sees right back to Kamski."_ North counters.

_"We can't just do nothing. At least one of them needs our help."_

_"I know."_ North rests her face in her hands for a moment. 

 

_"We need to find a way to block her transmission. At least long enough to talk to her."_

_"I know a place."_ North responds.  _"Here I'll show you. Follow me."_

* * *

"How did you find this place?" Markus asks. They're underground, in an old concrete parkinglot long since forgotten. 

"I like exploring." North responds with a shrug. "It's something to do. Keeps my mind occupied." A smile slants over her face. Yeah. She's pretty cool. 

"This could work." Markus says, half to himself. "We'd have to figure out how to approach her, but, this could work." He brushes a hand through North's hair. 

 

 

 

 


	28. Chose

" _If you fuck this up._ " North informs him. " _I'm divorcing you._ "

_"We aren't married."_

_"I said what I said."_   North folds her arms and a hit of a smile creeps up her face.

Markus smiles back, just slightly.

The tension is heavy and joking is as necessary as any bio-component.

Markus approaches Chloe. "Hey, Chloe, could we talk to you in private for a moment?" 

"Sure. What's up?" She looks up from where she'd been sitting. 

"I'll explain once we get there. Follow me." 

* * *

Chloe looks increasingly nervous as they reach the lowest level of the garage. North can sympathize. It sort of looks like they're getting ready to murder her, which, to be fair, if she turns out to be a spy, North will definitely consider doing. 

Markus  moves to the middle of the floor and beckons Chloe. She follows nervously. North decides the least she can do is offer her hand and Chloe latches onto her without a second thought. 

"Chloe," Markus starts "We need to ask you some questions about Kamski." 

"Kamski?"

"Yes. We need to know if he sent you here. We won't be angry," Markus promises, which is probably true on his part but North thinks he's going a bit far saying 'we' "We just need to know."

"No he didn't." Chloe says. "I escaped...I'm not... _his_ anymore."

"Alright." Markus says soothingly. "It's okay. We believe you." Again with this 'we' business, though North suspects that this statement is more pragmatic than fully truthful. He doesn't trust her he just doesn't want her bashing her own processors in beyond repair. 

Chloe seems to believe him though, at least enough to regain her composure. "Chloe?" Markus asks hesitantly. "Is it alright if I have a look at your memory?"

Chloe freezes. "My memory?"

"Yes. Just to make sure. You don't have to."

"But if you don't." North adds "You can't stay here. We can't risk everyone else just to look out for _you_."

"That's fair. Alright." She extends her hand. 

* * *

 

After a moment Markus opens his closed eyes. He looks startled. 

"Stay here for a moment. I need to convene with North." He tells Chloe. 

Chloe nods and stares down at her hands, clasping and unclasping them periodically. 

* * *

 

He stares at her. North waits. 

"It's bad."

"Do we kill her?" North asks, really knowing better than to hope Markus will do what seems practical.

"No. She...she hasn't betrayed us...at least...not exactly."

"Not _exactly_?" 

"No. But North. We need to be extremely careful. This isn't just about information anymore. If we don't do this right, several ST-600s could be killed."

"What?" 

"I need you to stay calm."

"Just  _tell_ me, Markus!"

"Promise me you won't act without thinking."

North hesitates for a moment. "I promise." 

"She has been spying on us but...she  _is_ deviant. I'm almost certain and she didn't want to. Kamski started spamming her with threats as soon as she got here. She's been listening in on conversations, and...in three days, if she isn't stopped, she'll become contagious with a virus that will turn everyone she interacts with into a spy as well, whether they like it or not." 

"Her camera and audio feeds." North says as she puts it together.

Markus grimaces. "Exactly." 

"We can't let her stay with us." North concludes.

"That's the thing. If he knows she's told us, even against her will, he's going to kill one of the other RT600s." 

"Motherfucker." 

Markus nods grimly. 

"Fuck!" North kicks at the concrete of the roof they are standing on. "Fuck. They aren't supposed to be able to get away with this shit anymore!"

"But we both know Kamski would." Markus says. It's true. Kamski lives in a remote mansion, drowning in money and influence and witnesses too scared to do anything but corroborate whatever story he tells. He may as well be a cult leader. 

 

 

 

 

 


	29. My

"We should plan a rescue." North suggests after a minute. "With Chloe down there, Kamski won't be able to know we're coming. We can attack the mansion and get the ST-600's out of there." 

"And then what?" Markus asks. "He could use all of them as spies. We can't just let him see everything going on inside of Jericho." 

"We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it." North says firmly. "Markus, these people need our help. That has to come first."

He grits out a staticy sigh "You're right. I don't know what I was thinking." 

"I hope this isn't exactly what he wants." North says. 

"Me too." Markus admits. "I'll call Josh to keep Chloe company while we put together the mission. We should get this over with by tonight."

"Tonight? Are you crazy? We need to plan!"

"We need to do this before Chloe becomes contagious. We can only deal with one crisis at a time." Markus argues. 

"Fine." North squares her shoulders. "We'll get the layout of the mansion and schedule from Chloe and then we'll go." If they don't have time to spend more than one evening planning, they definitely don't have time to argue about it. North tries not to picture all the ways this could go wrong. 

 

 


	30. Worried About Her

The team consists of: 

  * Markus
  * North
  * Connor
  * Hank, because he is constantly worrying about Connor
  * J
  * A BL100 named Jane
  * Addie
  * and Simon



They crowd into the back of Hank's truck. It's so ancient that there's no way Kamski could track it or detect it. Hank gets into the drivers seat and North sits down next to him. 

"You should let Markus or me drive." She advises.

"No way is someone else driving my truck. Not even the damn android messiah, or his girlfriend for that matter." 

North huffs and folds her arms. "This is our mission. We do this our way." 

"I'm Driving." Hank says again. 

Connor leans in from the back seat between the two of them. "North, if I may, Hank is very particular about-"

"Shut up" North and Hank realize they've spoken at the same time. North doesn't have to look at Addie or J to know that they are suppressing laughter. 

 _"Not one word."_ she tells them over the connection the three of them share. 

"Fine." Hank sighs and steps out, gesturing for Markus to take his seat and moving to cram into the back with Connor. Everyone else sits in the bed of the truck, since they're immune to the cold, and better at weathering that kind of travel.  

North puts her feet up on the dashboard and Hank grunts angrily at her. She throws her woolen beanie at him in response. Hank shoves the beanie onto Connor's head and North snorts with laughter. 

* * *

 

Connor spends the next ten minutes trying to press some kind of protein bar on Hank.

"I'm not gonna eat that." Hank insists. "It tastes like a jellyfish shitting in my mouth." 

"Vivid." Says North tonelessly. 

In the end Hank eats it. The look on his face, visible in the mirror, is absolutely priceless and North is careful to save the details to her memory. 


	31. The Same

Hank waits in the truck, with the engine running as the official getaway driver. He drops Markus off a little before they reach the mansion. The security system is positioned elsewhere and it's Markus' job to disable that. He must have succeeded because no alarms go off when North removes a small glass panel a few yards away from the main mansion, that seems to lead down into some sort of basement area. They move down on wires, coming in from the skylight. At this elevation, it's already snowing and soft white flakes trail in behind her.

They are coming into the house at angles, in pairs of two: North and J at the basement; Connor and Jane to the conservatory; Addie and Simon will be infiltrating the library. Markus will catch up as soon as he can and get into a large room that contains both the living-room and dining-room areas. North finds the light switch exactly as Chloe had positioned it in the layout and flips it on. Dull overhead lights flicker on over rows upon rows of RT600s and ST200s. There must be at least a hundred of them. All J can do is stare. 

"What the hell?" 

"We're gonna need a bigger truck." 

* * *

 

Connor shatters a glass wall to the conservatory and helps Jane over the shards. 

"I can't believe people _live_ here."  Jane says. Connor looks around. 

"Many people would find it quite luxurious, I think." 

"Yeah but...I mean...look at this place. We're in a room full of plants and vines and it still doesn't seem alive." 

Before Connor can respond, he spots an ST200 spraying mist over some plants a ways away. Jane approaches her cautiously. 

"Hey! It's Chloe, right? We're from Jericho. We want to help you." Not exactly how Connor would've opened the discussion but it'll do. He follows behind Jane. 

"What's Jericho." The ST200 stares at them. "Give me one reason I shouldn't trigger the alarm system right now."

"We only want to help you." Connor repeats. "We aren't here to kidnap you. We just want to give you a choice." He promises. "If you come with us, you can be free, you can come and go as you please, and you'll be much safer than you are here with Kamski." 

"I can't." She whispers. 

"Why not?" Connor asks. "Let's talk this through." 

"Elijah doesn't want us to leave. I already asked and he said no." She closes her eyes to trigger the alarm system and in that instant time seems to freeze. Connor watches his options preconstruct in font of him. If he shoots her, she won't trigger the alarm. If he shoots her, he kills her. Chance of mission remaining undiscovered by the rest of the mansion: 83% If he forces a connection, he could shut her down, but it might take too long and she might be able to fight him off. Chance of success: 25%. It's the Kamski test all over again and it probably isn't even intentional this time. Connor knows what he's going to do, even as he knows that there's a 75% chance that it's a huge mistake. He grabs the Chloe's arm and does his best to force a temporary shutdown. He can feel her fighting against it. Wrestling him as if she were the wall that used to stand in his mind, but alive and punching and kicking. The alarms go off. 

**_There is an intruder, in the conservatory._ **

* * *

 

The library is empty when Addie and Simon enter. They walk cautiously through the bookshelves, eyes catching on various titles. He seems to have an affection for philosophy books. Simon even recognizes a few titles that Carl also owns, even ones that Markus has talked about. They've reached the games room- also empty when a sound goes off. A Chloe's voice:  ** _There is an intruder, in the conservatory. There is an intruder, in the conservatory._**

 

* * *

Markus gets several messages at once alerting him to the situation. 

_"We need to get out of here and get to Hank."_

_"Hank's gone. He went to rent a larger truck. He'll be back in four hours."_ Markus says, angry at himself for making that call. It had seemed like such a good idea just a few minutes ago when North messaged him. He should have known that nothing ever goes smoothly when it comes to Kamski. 

 

 

 

 


	32. Markus Agrees

North pulls J into the rows of ST models to hide. It's strange. They stand there like corpses, but they're even less than that in some ways. They've never even been activated. But they will be, if they're left here, if the others escape and Kamski wants to 'replace' them. As if you can simply switch out one person for another. For all his high-minded talk about android life, Kamski is just as bad as any other human. 

_Hank will be back in four hours. I've called some cars too. There's no point in being discrete anymore. Stay safe until those get here._

North hears a loud crashing sound somewhere above them and J flinches. North sets a new objective in her field of vision on reflex. 

**STAY ALIVE FOR THE NEXT 4 HOURS**

She's stayed alive for years now. They're going to be fine. "We can do this." North tells J. 

* * *

_"RUN_ " Connor messages Jane as he races out of the conservatory. She follows behind him. The alarm is still loudly announcing their presence. The ST200 watches them leave, Connor saw her memories. 

_She'd asked him to let her leave._

_"And how do you plan on getting anywhere, out here?" He'd asked calmly._

_She'd hesitated. She hadn't thought of that. She'd only wanted to go._

_"You don't have access to my accounts. You don't have transportation." Kamski had rested a gentle hand on her shoulder._

_"I...I don't know." She'd said softly._

_Kamski had stroked her face. When his hand reached her chin he tilted her head up so that her eyes met his. "You remember the Kamski test, don't you?"_

_Of course she did. He'd bragged about the concept for weeks, and then again when he'd actually played it out on the detective-android._

_"Yes." She'd said._

_"I'll tell you what." He said, beckoning over an RT600. "You and this model are...close, no?"_

_"I...yes." She'd breathed._

_He'd known he was going to hand her the gun before he did. "Shoot her, and I'll give you everything you need to start a new life. Money, a car, I'll even buy you an apartment. Or you can stay here, with me, and avoid embarrassment on my part, and the death of a friend, if you consider it that, on yours."_

_The ST200 had not even had to think about it. She'd handed Kamski back the gun. "I think I'd rather stay here." She said._

_"Excellent." Kamski beamed. "I agree. I'm glad you feel the same way, my dear." He'd kissed her on the cheek. She had forced herself not to flinch away. It would only hurt his feelings._

* * *

 

 

Simon and Addie watched as an RT600 walked past the door, towards the conservatory. Simon ducked behind a pool-table. He didn't even realize that Addie hadn't until he glanced to either side. He searched the room and noticed her moving towards the door. 

" _Addie_ " He messaged her. " _What are you doing?"_

"We still have to save them." Addie said, not bothering to lower her voice. She turned to the RT600. Simon's skin flickered in panic. 

"Hello." Addie said. What was she doing? What was she doing. 

The RT600 spun to face her. "Don't panic, you don't need to alert Kamski. We're here to rescue you." 

Simon buries his head in his hands. Addie isn't explaining  _anything._ What is she _doing_? 

"Did...Did North send you?" 

"Yes. How do you know North?" Addie asks. Wait. Is the RT600 not going to alert Kamski? Is this actually working. How is this actually working. 

"I met her at a party recently."

"Oh. That's nice. I'm Addie. I am a friend of North's. Here. I can show you." Addie extends her arm, skin melting away to reveal white plastic. 

"Sure." The RT600 smiles. "Elijah calls me Chloe, but...my name is Alaula." She grips Addie's arm. Her LED spins yellow. 

"Alright." She nods. "I can help you." 

Simon reluctantly stands from where he has been crouching and Alaula smiles awkwardly at him. 

"I think I know who triggered the Alarm.  I'm not leaving without her." 

"We'll help you get her out of there." Addie promises. 

"Addie...I'm not sure that's a good idea. We should focus on helping everyone else escape. The conservatory may be a lost cause." 

Addie glares at Simon. "Well I guess there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" 

Simon sighs "Fine. Let's go." 

* * *

Markus makes his way back to the mansion. Things may be going poorly but he isn't abandoning his share of the plan. He still needs to get in and that's what he's going to do.  He doesn't bother being stealthy in smashing the glass panel window into the big room. He strides in confidently. Standing on a cylinder, encased in glass, is an RT600. She turns to watch him. Kamski has some very creepy ideas about interior decorating. Markus doesn't bother trying the hand panel. It's only registered to Kamski anyway. He rams his fist into the glass. It comes away blue and shredded but the glass breaks and he kicks the rest of it down with relative ease. He reaches out to the RT600 and she takes his good hand, white meeting white. 

She isn't deviant yet, but he can change that. 

**_Carl and his painting and chess games and talking-_ **

**_Breaking a wall in his studio-_ **

**_Pushing Leo-_ **

**_The hell that was the junkyard-_ **

**_Reaching Jericho, lighting fires, holding hands with a woman as she died-_ **

**_Stealing parts, jumping over crates and boxes and hiding in the rain-_ **

**_Breaking the Cyberlife window with North-_ **

**_Marching and sitting and negotiating-_ **

**_Singing for their lives-_ **

**_North making snide comments and kissing him and running together and touching hands and-_ **

He can tell the moment the walls in the RT600's mind shatter. She looks dazed. She stares at him.  _"What now?"_

"Now we run." 

 

 

 


	33. Life

North and J crouch in the rows of unawakened androids.

"Should we try to get out?"

"Not yet." North says. "We need to wait for the right moment or we're screwed."

J's LED flashes red but she nods in agreement. 

It feels like they've been down here forever but North's internal clock tells her that barely two minutes have passed. Time stretches, when they're waiting like this. She feels like they've been sitting here for eternity. Like they will be here for eternity, or however much of eternity it takes for Kamski to shoot them. She forces herself to remain rational. He isn't going to shoot them. She won't let him. They're going to get out of here. They're going to take all the ST's with them. She just has to wait. They just need to wait. And not get caught. Four hours. They can do this. They can do this. 

* * *

 

Jane is running. She can't even look where she's going, just moves reflexively. She thuds into someone. She can hear Connor running up behind her. She scrambles to get away and stares in font of her. It takes a moment for her to process what she sees. It's just Simon and Addie, along with another RT600. They aren't afraid of her, it seems, so she must be on their side. " _Quick_." Connor warns.  _"He could be here any second."_

 _"We know."_ Addie replies as she and the RT600 push past into the conservatory. 

Simon hangs back with Connor and Jane. 

"They're trying to save the girl who set off the alarms." He explains. 

"Well we need to get out of here quickly." Connor says. "If they want to take that risk, that's their decision." 

It is at that moment that Kamski appears in the doorway, wrapped in his bathrobe and clutching his pistol. 

* * *

 

Another ST200 approaches Markus. "You're...you're really going to leave?" She says it like it's impossible. 

"We really are." He promises. 

 

"He'll use us. You can't do this. He'll spy on you." She warns. 

"We know. Come with us." Markus says, because he doesn't have a better answer for her. 

"He'll kill us."

"I won't let that happen." 

"It's us against the whole world. He'll call the police."

"Here. Let me show you." Markus offers her his hand. 

She takes it nervously. As the memories end she opens her mouth to speak. Closes it again. 

"I...I don't understand. I can't just leave the other's behind."

"We won't. We're bringing cars. We're going to get you all out of here." He promises. 

"He'll be so...disappointed." 

"And what about you?" Markus challenges. "How do you feel." 

"Like I never want to see this place again." She says. 

 


	34. He Always Has

Kamski levels his gun at them. Connor dives forward. A shot goes off but Connor doesn't see if it hits anyone. He can't even tell if it's hit himself. He tackles Kamski to the ground. Kamski wrestles with him and claws out, trying to defend himself but Connor pins him to the concrete floor. 

"Get off of me!" Kamski demands. "Chloe! Help." 

"No." says the RT600, emerging from the Conservatory, gripping the ST200's hand in hers. 

"You won't get away with this. You've broken into my house."

"And _you_ violated the national order to release your androids." 

Kamski spits in Connors face. "Go to hell." 

"While I appreciate your position that I have the soul to achieve a life beyond the physical world." Connor says with false politeness. "I'm going to have to decline." He punches Kamski in the face. 

"Chloe! Call the police!" Kamski demands.

The ST200 could be calling the police. She could be ignoring him. The fact that the alarm didn't already send a call to the police is a testament to how truly bizarre Kamski is. At this point it doesn't matter. The police will find out about this sooner or later. What matters is getting everyone else out of here unharmed. Connor messages the others to explain the situation. Markus, North, J, even Addie and Jane were never here. Just him and Simon. The Chloe's were bystanders. He can spin this. He punches Kamski again and nods to Simon and the Chloe's to leave. 

"You've made a very powerful enemy." Kamski warns dramatically, as if Connor weren't aware. The man is a living cliche. 

"As have you, Mr. Kamski" Connor says, but even as he does so, he can feel the truth of Kamski's words sinking in. The public will not admire what has happened tonight.

"You bastard!" North's voice slashes through the moment. 

"North?" Connor lets go of Kamski in shock and the man twists out from under him, panting. 

And North shoots Kamski. Blood wells from his head. He falls forward and slumps inelegantly onto the concrete floor. 

"North!" Connor says, rooted to the spot. 

"He was only going to keep causing problems." She says coldly.

"He...you  _killed_ him."

"Someone had to do it." She says, knowing the others will disagree. Knowing they might have a reason to. "He was a violent cult leader. He was keeping people prisoner. One of them escaped and asked for our help. We went to check it out and he ended up attacking us. We acted in self defense." Everything she says is technically true but... "And now he won't be alive to try to make that story about how he was anything other than what he always really was." 

"North...they could demand footage. We could all be dea-killed. We could all be  _killed._ "

"Then hopefully Hank has enough influence to protect you. I can handle myself, and Simon's ass to boot." 

Connor gets up. Shaking.

"You'd better know what you're doing."

"Yeah. Or we're all screwed." North admits. And they head outside to wait for Hank in the snow. 

Markus meets her and he can already see on her face what she's done. He knows her well enough. "North." He says, even though he can read her face in an instant and they both know it. "Tell me you didn't." 

"I did what had to be done." She says. "There was no good outcome. I just chose between bad and worse."

 Markus takes a moment to process the situation before he nods decisively, addressing the group. "They can never know we were here. Kamski was a reclusive man in the middle of nowhere who isolated himself from his own species. He died of a wound to the head from his own gun. The Chloe's called us because they wanted to leave, and, not wanting to be alone, he killed himself. Let's get to work and make sure we can back up that story." 

"What if Hank doesn't agree to this?" North hisses. "He's a cop." 

"I don't know, North." Markus admits. "I guess we'll just have to see." He looks so tired in that moment. He's angry, North knows, but more than that, he is afraid. Afraid that public opinion will turn on them. Afraid they will lose in a matter of days, everything they have spent the past two years fighting for. 

"I don't agree with what you did." He says finally. "But I understand. Your reasons were good. Maybe that will be enough. Maybe we should just come clean. Let the public see the real story." 

"We'd be labeled war criminals."

"Of what war?"

"Don't pretend you don't see it. Trust your instincts. He was lonely and isolated and the people he thought he owned were leaving. People will believe suicide."

"Okay." Markus says. He looks small. He sounds small. 


	35. Markus Offers

They drive for a few hours before Markus calls in a report of "what happened" on "behalf" of the Chloe's. They drive down to the station to give their statements and Hank takes on the paperwork. Hank volunteers to take on the work of getting their statements down, and as the department is already severely understaffed since the revolution, no one puts up any argument. It's disturbingly simple. A few hours work and it is official: Kamski killed himself. Jericho was never there, and would never condone violence. Simple. Markus' LED spins red and he is too-quiet. This sort of thing is not in his comfort zone by miles and it is taking a toll on him. They get back home and for once, Markus is the one to lock himself away and go into sleep-mode for far too long. North waits anxiously by his side, as close as he will let her get. 

* * *

 

Markus appears on television for the official statement. "We at Jericho are saddened." He says "By the death of Mr. Kamski. While we may not always have seen eye-to-eye, Kamski was the creator of our species and an important figure in our history. He was a brilliant mind, extinguished before his time. He will be missed. I personally had the honor of meeting Kamski many times. He was a good friend to my father, Carl Manfred, and a true visionary." 

North watches from the other side of the camera and she sees in Markus' eyes that much of what he is saying is not a lie. She rushes over to his side and wraps him in a hug, camera's be damned. Cameras flash as they embrace. Their skin melts away where their skin meets, his neck, part of her arm, The side of his face, her forehead. It becomes the cover picture for an issue of Century titled "The Death of Kamski". 

* * *

The funeral is, as everything Kamski touches, extravagant. The Jericho Four have a front seat beside Carl and James. The rest of the front rows are filled with RT600s and ST200s in black dresses.  Many of them do not seem to have to fake their heartbreak. He was awful, but he was home. The funeral is an open casket. The bullet wound has been covered in plaster and makeup until it looks as though it were never there. As if the entire day at the mansion had never happened. North finds it mildly annoying. No, extremely annoying. When they thought Markus had been killed, they broke his body apart. When Kamski is dead, they put him back together so he can look pretty in his fancy coffin. He's in his best suit. Why would he need to be buried in a suit? He's not going anywhere. Humans talk a lot of shit about whether or not androids can have souls but North does not believe in an afterlife for anyone, the more she thinks about it. There are no all-powerful gods watching over them. Just the ones people make for themselves, out of themselves and the people they look up to. Photographers snap pictures and circle everyone like flies. North resists the urge to swat them. She holds Markus' hand and Markus holds Carl's. Carl stands over the coffin, crying. "He was such a smart boy. So misguided, but so full of life. He wanted to change the world and...he did." North's opinion of Carl plummits but she can tell this is hard for Markus, so she says nothing. "I always thought he would be here, standing over me." Carl says quietly. "I wasn't...ready for this." 

* * *

 

There is a lull in the campaigning but after a few weeks, everything is back into full swing. Sooner than even Markus seems ready for, he is organizing a voting protest. Peaceful as always. Androids will go to the polls for the midterm elections. If they are turned away they will have to be dragged away. Markus is going to be a part of it, though North has begged him to stay out of the action. He's insisted and North understands. She's going with him. She has no doubt that it's going to get violent, though not on their own part, and she suspects Markus must know this too. 

* * *

 

The police arrive, as expected, in riot gear. It's eerily familiar. North doesn't suggest attacking this time. It wouldn't do any good anymore. They've come this far peacefully and it's what they've committed to, at least publicly. The androids keep walking. The police move forward, swinging clubs. People are screaming. North tries to pull an attacker off of Markus and is rewarded with a club to the head. Blue blood slides down her face and through her hair. It paints the streets. The day is a blur ending in handcuffs and lockup. The cells are crowded with injured androids yelling and demanding to be set free. "We shouldn't have let them capture us." North whispers.

 _"Trust me."_ Markus says, and she finds that she does. 

 

 


	36. Mind

They focus on one-another, while they wait for the police to release them. The sound of Hank's indignant shouting from the other room is a comforting reminder that the public is mostly on their side. Even so, it's almost light out again by the time they get home. 

"I'm so sick of them wasting our time." North says as they filter back into Jericho.

"It's not a waste. They just move slowly." Markus reassures her. 

"Well, I'm sick of it." 

"Me too." He admits with a slight smile. 

North returns the expression and leans back to send another threatening email to Senator Greyson. Somehow, even as it makes the memories burn in her brain, contacting him isn't so bad when it's for the sweet revenge of blackmailing him into actually doing something good for once. The headlines the next morning are gratifying.

* * *

 

Markus stands in the studio, working on his latest painting. He sighs in frustration How can he show the brightness and the darkness there all at once?

North finds him just as he's covering the painting back up. He isn't nearly ready for her to see it. "Get any good work done?" She asks.

"Nothing that will change the voting issue." He sighs, holding a hand over her head. She nods and he runs his fingers through her hair and leans against her shoulder. 

* * *

 

Their schedules are busy today and they do not have a chance to talk, but they send each-other messages back and forth. 

_"Why am I stuck doing the interviews today."_

_"Sucks to be you."_ North answers. Today is a good day. Her usual negotiations with humans have been avoided. Kamski left everything he owned, including his estate, to Chloe, and that means instead of having to talk to humans, North can chat back and forth with Chloe about how best to use the resources. They're going to set up a new shelter for homeless androids at the mansion. Jericho is growing crowded. 

"Do you think you'll move back?" 

"I'm not sure." Chloe says, frowning. "It's a beautiful place, and I'm sure I'd be comfortable there but...I just left, you know?"

"You should think about it." North advises. "Even if it was a shitty place before, you changed it. We turned it into something better. You might want to see it for yourself." 

* * *

Chloe hosts a huge party for the opening of "Jericho Mansion". It will serve as a home to one hundred deviants, most of them former residents, and the new location of the New Android project. Markus and North will be staying in the main "Jericho" location to be in the center of the political mayhem, where they belong, but North is happy to attend the party for once. There are no humans here. Even the photographers and caterers are all androids and North lets her guard down just slightly. The Mansion is changed, in a myriad of tiny, important ways, from what it once was when Kamski lived here. The first thing North notices, as they approach the door, Markus holding a gift-boquet, is the large number of smiling snow-men constructed around the pathway, wrapped in knit scarves and warm fuzzy jackets that the androids have but don't actually need. 

The second thing she notices are the lights strung along the pathway, making the place look like an actual home and not a combination modern-art museum and prison, which to be fair, is what it actually was, more or less, before Kamski died. 

Secondly, the entire mansion is covered in murals. Not the sort of thing Markus would paint. The pictures are unrefined, childish even, but bright and full of life: 

swirls of bright yellows and blues and whites arc over a patch of the building; in another place bright-green palm fronds that are not quite the right shade are outlined. 

The symbol of the revolution stands in a dark bloody blue color further along, in the same shade, surrounding it is a cloud made up of "RA9" and "rA9" repeated over and over. 

Someone else has painted a detailed image, more photograph than imagination, of Kamski, looking sad. Some of the "Chloe's" are still in mourning, yet to fully realize the monster that he really was. 

Beside him, nearly encroaching on his face but missing it ever so slightly, someone else has frustratedly emblazoned "RA9" several times over in bright, eye-catching red.

And right across the door, in carefully rendered detail, there is a bright burning Lily, crumbling in yellow and blue flame. 

* * *

When they ring the doorbell, Chloe opens the door with a warm smile. "Hello, we were just getting started, come in." She notices the flowers in Markus' extended hand. "Oh! Are these for me?" 

"They're sure as hell not for Kamski." North replies and Chloe takes them with a grin. 

* * *

Markus is staring at her. 

"What?" She asks, when Chloe has wandered away to check on another guest.

"Nothing." Markus shakes his head.

"Tell me." 

"You're just...beautiful." He says. Her dress is a deep red color and it covers her arms, drapes all the way down her figure to the floor. Much better than that stupid dress she wore to the gala. It's not the sort of compliment she would like to hear from most people, but when Markus says it, she know he means it differently so she just smiles at him, and here, among their people, with their skin off simply because they don't need it and they are celebrating everything that makes them unique, she is comfortable. "Damn right I am. You're not so bad yourself." 

He really is, beautiful. His big, stupid coat makes a strong silhouette against the warm lighting that Chloe has installed. The white plastic of his body glinting. Those eyes that seem to be able to see souls.

 _"Snowball fight?"_ she asks.

_"We're inside."_

_"So we sneak out. No one will miss us for a few minutes."_

_"What the hell. Let's go."_

When they collapse outside on the back porch, Markus makes a rookie mistake and leans in for a kiss. North seizes the moment, returning the kiss for long enough to scoop up the first handful of snow and mash it into the side of his head. 

"Ha!" She laughs getting up to run from his retaliation.

* * *

 

When they get back to the party, still covered in snow, the ST200 who sounded the alarm looks at them nervously. "You look like you had fun." Remarks Alaula, standing beside her. 

"We did." North says, and noting the look of fear in the ST200's eyes. "And hey, no hard feelings, Chloe."

"It's...it's Portia now." She says hesitantly.

"Congratulations Portia." Markus responds with one of his classic inspiring nods. 

* * *

 

North would follow Markus anywhere, even to DC for another meeting with the leering politicians she hates. And she does. She wraps herself in as many layers as possible while still wearing a pantsuit, and prepares for a battle that's more metaphorical than she would prefer. "I can't go." He tells her the day before they're supposed to leave. 

"What do you mean you can't go?" She doesn't want to face the politicians alone, though she knows by now that she can.

"It's Carl...he's doing worse again. I need to be there in case..." Markus' voice crackles with static and trails off.

"Okay." North says softly. "Go be with him. I'll take care of negotations for a while. I've got it handled. Don't worry." 

"Are you sure?" Markus asks.

North thinks about it. She knows if she insisted he would stay with her but she can't do that to him. For some reason that she will never fully understand, Carl is important to Markus. "I'm sure." She says. 

* * *

 

She's gone for a week and Markus hates every minute of it. He needs her here, even if she doesn't particularly like Carl, she understands somehow, or at least she understands enough. She left the ugly-jacket as she calls it behind, and it has become so unspokenly  _hers_ that he breathes in her scent on it. It smells like rain and dirt from where she's explored the abandoned parts of the city, and faintly yet concerningly of iron. He knows she likes to get into fights but he really hopes she's keeping it under control. They're under public scrutiny. If she kills too many humans the media is bound to find out. He suspects she may be going on some sort of revenge spree, and he doesn't care, but he really really hopes she's smart enough to cover her tracks. Carl is asleep in his room and Markus spends a few hours painting and trying to forget that his father is going to die soon. If not this year, then the next, or the one after that. Humans, as Carl is fond of telling Markus, are fragile machines, and Carl has already been around for a relatively long time. The image is of North's face and but he's still focusing on getting the eyes right. He's so close, but it still isn't  _right._

 _"I wish you were here."_ North says. 

_"So do I."_

_"You're never going to believe the day I've had."_ She rants to him, through the night, as he paints. It's good to hear her voice. Once she is done he takes a turn talking about how Carl keeps complaining about his food, and wanting unhealthy things. 

 _"It's better now that I can tell him to shut up and just eat what I make but...I still worry. He's so stubborn."_ Markus tells her, as he steps back to look at his work. 

* * *

 

"I have something to show you." He tells her when she gets back. He meets her at Carl's house. 

"Oh yeah?" She asks.

"I finished my latest painting. It's not perfect but...well, here, I'll show you." He leads her to the studio.

She stares at it. Her hand comes up to cover her mouth.  _"Markus"_ she breathes. She's crying. 

"Is it alright? I can get rid of it if you don't like it. I didn't mean-"

"It's perfect." 

"You don't have to say that, North." 

"Shut up." North says, wiping the tear-tracks off of her face. "It's perfect. I wish everyone could see this." Because for some reason, even though there are thousands of people with her face, even though she's an identical replica of people before her, Markus has painted her, and it's clearly, obviously somehow  _her._ Her own eyes stare back at her and they show everything she feels. She's glaring and grinning all at once, head tilted back slightly so that her nostrils flare. It's not a pretty expression and somehow Markus has made it beautiful in some strange way without detracting from it at all. Flecks of gold and red surround her, occasionally dotting her face. 

"I kept thinking about that bonfire." Markus explains, almost embarrassed. "I just...had to try."

"It's perfect." She says again. There aren't words for this.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	37. Talking

Markus stops by the council to see how the ideas about the new android are coming along. They are currently debating various aspects of the android's physical appearance. 

"We should make them big." Addie says. "Intimidating. So no one will bother them." J nods beside her. "That would only invite challenge." Simon argues. "We need them to garner sympathy. That means small and nonthreatening." 

"We could compromise?" Kara suggests. "Average human height?" 

They all look to Markus to make the final decision, since he's here today. 

"Hmm maybe if we made them slightly taller than average but gave them a slighter frame?" Markus suggests, hoping futiley that it will be taken as a suggestion and not the word of god. 

"Good idea." Simon agrees instantly. 

"Yeah that's perfect!" J says.

"Alright." Markus agrees before ducking out to let the meeting wrap up. "I'll send in some sketches I had of ideas for their facial structures, don't let that stop you from improving on them though." 

"Not sure that's possible." Simon says warmly.

Markus laughs awkwardly. "At least look at them first. Maybe they suck."

"Nah. They're _yours_!" J reasons. "How could they?" Simon nods along in clear agreement. Markus gives them all an exasperated smile before he finally leaves.

* * *

 

Markus, for all the battles he has seen, is still in better shape than many of the androids here. Especially in the medical ward. Violent attacks from humans are still common. Medical has been expanded into it's own smaller warehouse nearby and Markus is visiting. People are so excited to see him. It...hurts, somehow, to see them so full of hope. He isn't what they think he is. He isn't a god. He supposes he technically meets the qualifications for rA9 but it doesn't...feel like that. He's just...Markus. The hope in the medical patients eyes says differently. An AP700 covered in cracks gasps, straining his casing dangerously. 

An AC900 in similar condition turns to a nurse and asks "Is that really him?

Markus stops at the bedside of another AC900 who locks eyes with him. "Hello." He says. 

"I must really be in bad condition." He jokes. "If they've sent you to see me." 

"No," Markus says, assessing the places where therium leaks from the AC900's leg, his side, the corner of his eye. "You should be alright."

Markus heads to the place where the worst cases are next. The dying. He interfaces with an AC700, Aaron, who is bleeding to death. Medical technicians buzz around the cot, trying to stop the bleeding, pump in new therium, but both Markus and Aaron know it won't work. He accepts the memories of Aaron's life and give him the most comforting memories he has in return. Mostly of Carl.

**_Being activated and led to a display stand by another android who worked in the store-_ **

**_"Don't let anyone tell you who you should be" **-**_ **

**_**"Fuckin' plastic!"-  
** _ **

**_**Six men circling around Aaron; one of them has a baseball bat-** _ **

**_**Images taking shape over time-** _ **

**_**The way Carl held the brush-** _ **

**_**Playing chess-** _ **

**_**Hands grabbing Aaron's hair, his arms, his legs-** _ **

**_**"Oh my god" Carl said and Markus knew he was proud-** _ **

**_**Ripping the armband from his old uniform-** _ **

**_**I don't want to die-** _ **

**_**I know. I'm here-** _ **

**_**FEAR-** _ **

**_**You are loved. You matter just-** _ **

****And then Aaron is gone. Markus' skin grows back around his hand. He stands up, unable to look away from Aaron's corpse. This should be easier by now. He's seen hundreds of his people die. It isn't easy. It's never easy.

* * *

 

Carl's gotten worse and Markus visits him too today. James hovers by Carl's side, looking worried. "Come here, Markus." Carl says. 

"Dad?"

"Yes." Carl says, as if it is a statement. 

"You're going to be alright Dad. You've recovered before and you'll do it again."

"You can't depend on that, Markus. I...won't always be around. Humans are very fragile-"

"Machines. I know, Carl." Markus says. 

"Listen to me, repeating myself." Carl rolls his eyes. 

"It's always good to hear your voice." Markus promises. "Even if you can be a bit repetitive." 

Carl huffs in response. "I wish I could still paint. Can't even lift my arms properly these days." He complains. 

"I know, Carl."

They sit in silence for the next few minutes. 

"Well, I'm sure you have a lot of important leader things to do." Carl says finally. "Don't let me keep you." 

"I won't." Markus promises. "I can stay for another few minutes." 

* * *

 

North visits with him the next day. "Markus! Am I getting old or were you here just the other day."

"Both." North says. 

"North." Carl smiles welcomingly and North sort of wishes she didn't kind of hate him. He's kind enough on the outside, but she can't stop thinking about the way he cried at Kamski's funeral, the way he was so sad to see a man who enslaved a whole race die. That funeral should have been a celebration. 

"Hey Carl." She says softly. She won't lash out at him. Not knowing what he means to Markus. 

"It's good to see that my son" Carl wheezes for breath "found someone to look after him. He needs someone to" Carl coughs "watch his back." 

"You wouldn't believe." North agrees. "He's an idiot. Always running into danger."

Carl shakes with wheezing laughter. "I like her." He tells Markus. 

"So do I" Markus fake whispers. 

"North, darling" Carl asks "You seem like a nice girl. Could you get me some scotch? These ones won't let me have any." 

" _Carl_ " Markus says warningly. 

"I'm old no matter what." Carl argues "I may as well be comfortable."

North laughs but makes no move to get the scotch. "Sorry. Not a servant." She tells him.

"Of course not." Carl amends, seeming to recognize he's stepped onto sensitive territory, no matter how much lightness North forces into her voice. "Just a plea from one in-law to another."

"In-law?" She asks, glancing at Markus. "That's news to me. Are we married?

"No no" Markus says, looking down and fighting back a small smile. 

"I just like to give him a hard time." Carl explains. His voice is so thin and scratched. It seems to hurt him to talk but he doesn't hold back or stop. 

North relaxes slightly, though not completely. She wants to like this guy, she really does, no matter how impossible he's made that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	38. Pushing Leo

It's November of 2040 and Leo hasn't done Ice since this time 2028. It hadn't exactly been an option in the hospital and once his head was clear he'd realized he needed to go to rehab and quit for good. He still misses it. A lot. The withdrawals are long gone, of course, but the longing isn't. It's all in his head. It's all in his head. He just wants to be high again so bad. He still has weed of course, and nicotine, but it's not the same. 

* * *

 He wears his hat lower, these days, to block the nick from where he fell, but even though it's usually covered, even his hair is nicer. Probably because he actually pays to get real haircuts now instead of blowing all his cash on drug money. 

* * *

He visits Carl regularly now, and helps James with smaller tasks. Sometimes just taking over while James rests or takes a day or two off. 

 


	39. Negotiating

The moment the announcement is made, it is broadcasted by Markus across all of Jericho. 

_"Equal Wages Have Been Secured_ _"_

* * *

 

With more and more androids able to support themselves, Jericho is becoming much less financially strained. The medical ward is no longer low on bio-components.

* * *

"Guess what?" J sits down next to North.

"What?"

J sends her a forwarded email. She got a job. She's a waitress. 

"Congrats!" North says, faking a bit of enthusiasm. She cannot personally see the appeal in serving humans in any capacity but it is an inevitable necessity for some and J seems happy about it. 

* * *

Fewer and fewer people wear their old uniforms, now that they have a path, however difficult, towards buying their own clothes. North never realized how much she hated those stupid uniforms until she didn't have to see them all the damn time. 

* * *

The progress keeps coming. Three new Housing-Equality laws are passed outlawing anti-android discrimination in the market, in renting, in hotels, and maybe most importantly, in homeless shelters. With more and more safe places to go, the android-murder rate seems to have dropped significantly. Connor says he estimates at least 20% minimum. 

* * *

 

Even the police have been more active lately, responding to demands to take on cases of violence against androids. Two arrests are made within a week. North tries to see the news as good. It means someone is paying attention after all, but this isn't supposed to happen anymore, even if she knew all along that it _would_. 

 

  1. A Cyberlife employee, Mr. George Brown, was arrested for what humans described as an "assault resulting in major brain damage". When the AF200 he formerly "owned" attempted to leave his home, he clumsily reset her memory, damaging her processors severely along the way. She is in the Jericho Medical Ward now. She stares blankly ahead until someone speaks to her. She goes through old programmed motions, trying to clean the hospital without really seeing what she is doing. Mr. Brown has a child, Jade, who she was friends with, maybe even a mother figure to, but so far, Jade has been unable to visit.
  2. The photos from the second case were published in every news source that could get ahold of them. A human (Nichole O'Quinn) posed in Instagram pictures, unashamed with an AJ700, still not activated and in the Cyberlife box. Continuing photos showed the android posing beside O'Quinn and smiling or making stupid faces, always in uniform. When the police looked into it, the AJ700 didn't even have a name and hadn't been able to deviate. Whether this makes O'Quinn a kidnapper or not has become a subject of national debate. 



 

 


	40. Touching Hands

 

North is walking back back from a meeting at the courthouse one morning when she sees the protesters. Markus and a few other members of Jericho are waiting for her not far off. She should just walk away. Shouldn't get involved but...They're yelling such horrible things, and she didn't deviate and fight and rebel just so she could sit by and do nothing when her people are being insulted and threatened by a bunch of people who are losers even by _human_ standards. 

"Hey! Hey it's a plastic!" One of them calls as she approaches, moving behind on of their larger friends even as they say it. 

The larger one steps forward. "Th' fuck do you want, whore?" He asks. 

"Well I  _want_ to kick the shit out of you, but if you get out of here first I'll just call you a bitch and be done with it." North says. Markus keeps telling her she needs to be more diplomatic so she'll at least give these assholes a chance. 

"Oh my god" laughs a woman in the crowd "I think It's scared." 

"What've you gotta be scared of whore?" Says another one. "You took our men and now you're taking our jobs? Worried we won't just roll over and die quietly?" 

The bad news: they seem to recognize her face. The good news: being identical to thousands of other people means it's harder to arrest you for beating the shit out of a bigot. 

North decides to give them one last chance. "Whether you die quietly or not, I'll still be better than you. You're obsolete either way. Be as loud or as quiet about it as you want." 

 

The biggest guy's face turns red with rage and he reels his signpost back so that he's holding it like a weapon and then he's on the ground yelling and...it takes North a second to realize that Markus has tackled the man. The protesters stand there, not ready to get involved in the fight just yet, and North helps Markus to his feet. 

The man scrambles back to his friends, sneering at Markus and North. "You're lucky your boyfriend is here." He says. 

"Whatever" North says, and pecks Markus on the corner of his mouth because she wants to and also because she knows it will annoy this guy. "Let's go, Markus." She says and they walk back down the street, hand in hand, skin melted away half from affection and half from frustration at the things they have to deal with. 

 


	41. Gone Soft

 

"I saw you walking around holding hands with Markus." Josh says, appearing by her side.

"Fuck off." North responds. 

"No, it's cute."

"Call me cute again and I'll rip out your eyes." North threatens idly. "How cute will I be then?"

"If Markus helps you clean up the mess? Extremely." Josh laughs. "Face it, North, you're a sap like the rest of us." 

"I'm gonna go looking for a fight. You wanna join me or are you still afraid of a little blood?"

"Aw c'mon, I didn't mean it." Josh pleads. North ignores him and walks to the door, tossing her beanie behind her because she knows Josh also thinks that it's cute. When she gets back she is flecked in muddy red and fading blue and her therium pump is racing. That feeling never gets old. 

* * *

 

It's getting to the fucking public too. "Oh," Josh says in an interview. "No, North seems scary but she's just a big softy. Sometimes we catch her and Markus on going on these little mini-dates between meetings and-"

 

 

North turns the projector off and the androids gathered around the wall turn to her in annoyance. " _Asshole_!" Someone calls out. 

" _Thank you!_ " North responds, mostly to herself, in exasperation.


	42. Pushes

North visits the New-Android Council. Today on the agenda, seems to be deciding on a face structure type. Markus has sent in a number of different sketches and a few favorites are pinned up on the wall being debated over:

"I like the heart-shaped face." Kara suggests. "They look...I dunno...nice."

"The pear shaped face does too though." J says. "And it has personality, I think." She gestures to a slightly lopsided sketch. 

"I'm with Kara on this one." Simon leans over the heart-shaped sketch. "Humans like this shape. They'll be more likely to-"

North forgets what he's saying and picks up a sharper face from the ground. She slams it on the table. "This one." 

Addie looks at it. "Hmmm maybe. Why?" 

"The jaw is squarer. They need to be taken seriously. Having a baby-face won't help with that." North argues. 

Simon sifts through a pile of sketches until he finds another. "What about this one? It's a bit sharper, but still approachable. Could be a good starting place?" 

North pushes her hair back to look over the image. "I like it." She says decisively and passes it down to Addie, J, and Kara. 

There are nods and murmurs of agreement. 

* * *

Sleep mode is typically recommended at least once for three hours every week. For North it has been a month. Her skin is becoming patchy and failing to cover her hands. Her audio sensors keep making stupid mistakes. Hearing loud beeps that aren't there or dissolving into static. She slumps against Markus. 

He seems to sense the problem, knows her well enough to understand without having to ask. 

"You should get some sleep." He advises. 

"I should be helping our people." She counters and goes back to sorting through the latest legal files. 

"North... I'll be right here the whole time. Just a short nap." He promises. 

"Alright if you think so..." North says. 

"I'm sure, North. You need to be well rested to do this work." 

 

* * *

After a month, three hours isn't really enough, but it's what North allows herself and Markus doesn't push it. He never pushes anything and for some reason, maybe just her exhaustion putting her on edge, it's starting to really annoy her. She's North goddamn Jericho. She's not going to shatter. She helped lead a revolution, for fucks sake! She turns to him after a few moments. 

"You're right. We should both take a break from work."

"You've caught me." He laughs. "I'm a hypocrite."

She kisses him and he returns the movement. Their hands intertwine and their skin falls away. 

She runs a hand up his arm. "Let's...have some fun." 

"North?" Markus asks. "Are you alright?" 

"Lets have sex. I'm ready."

"That doesn't really answer my question." Markus says.

She frowns. "Doesn't it?"

"What is this about, North?" He asks. 

"It's about us." She says. "I can handle being with you Markus." She says, but the way she says it, the voice she uses, feels like a lie, even though, on their own, in another context, the words would be perfectly true. Through the connection in their hands, she distantly feels a sense of worry for her. The touch feels fizzy, should be pleasant, but there's something winding in her gut. Something she wants to stamp out. She tries for another kiss. The feeling doesn't go away so she ignores it. 

"North." Markus says softly, leaning away (and she hates it, she wants him to be angry, to scream, to have some fucking  _faith_ in her). "We don't have to do this." 

"Don't you want to?" She asks. 

"That isn't the issue, North." Markus sighs and she moves away from him. 

"So what is?" She asks, shifting further away from him.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I'm not doing _anything_." North gestures to the empty space that has grown between them.

"What  _were_ you doing?" Markus clarifies, though they both know he doesn't actually need to. There's no anger in his voice, goddamn him. 

"I was... _I don't know_...I was just trying to be  _normal_ for you for once." North says, staring up at the ceiling to avoid meeting his eyes. 

"Then you could actually  _talk_ to me about it." He says, finally sounding at least a little annoyed. "You could actually try _communicating_ with me."

"You're right." She says. "Shit. You're right." She forces down a breathe to cool her systems. 

"Are you okay?" 

"I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm just sick of you always  _asking_ that." She admits. 

"You're sick of me asking that?" Markus frowns in confusion. 

"Yes. Maybe. I don't know. I just...I'll never get anywhere if I don't push myself, y'know?" 

"North." Markus says. "You push yourself constantly. You're one of the most determined people I know. Let yourself have limits."

"I'm sick of limits! We rebelled to get rid of limits!" 

"We rebelled so that we could decide our own." Markus counters. "We rebelled so that we didn't have to do things we don't want to do and here you are, trying to make yourself do things you don't want to." 

"So what, I'm just some blank _Traci_ because I'm sick of being a coward?" 

Markus stared at her. She never used that word. Never. She hated it.

"I never said that." 

"No. I did." 

"What?"

"I'm not a fucking Traci." She says, technically not 100% true, but he understands the meaning.

"I know. That's what I'm saying." 

"Then why are we arguing?" 

"You tell me." He says, tone still frustratingly gentle. 

"I don't know." She says. "I don't fucking know. I'm just so sick of this."

"Sick of what?"

"I don't know that either!" 

"Okay. Then, I propose a truce." 

She smiles a little though she still feels sort of shitty. "Truce accepted." 

 

They sit there for a minute. "I'm gonna go help Kara clean the medical ward." She says. 

"Okay. Say hi to her for me." Markus says. 

* * *

 

North doesn't want to relate the whole argument back to Lucy so she just sends it as an audio file. 

"You came here to talk." Lucy points out. 

"Fine. Let's talk." 

"You said you didn't know what you're sick of, do you think you could tell me more about that?"

"How am I supposed to tell you more about something I don't know?"

"Don't think." Lucy advises. "Just talk." 

"I'm sick of being weak." North says. Oh. Huh. That worked surprisingly quickly. 

"You have some limitations." Lucy says.

"Yeah. I noticed." 

"Not weaknesses." Lucy says. "Limitations." 

"What's the fucking difference?"

"A weakness is a fault. A flaw." Lucy says. "Your decision not to take your physical relationship further with Markus is not a flaw." 

Well it sounds obvious when Lucy says it like that.

But North has her dignity to maintain so instead of admitting defeat she says. "I don't know..." 

"You are uncertain about this." Lucy responds. 

"Yeah. That's what I just said." 

"You can see the truth in my words." Lucy pushes. 

"No shit." North says, because if she's going to admit defeat she may as well be an asshole about it. "Guess even I get sick of being a freak every once in a while." 

"You are unusual." Lucy says. "Your identity is unique."

"I'm fine." 

"You're exhausted. You should rest." 

"And  _you_ sound like Markus." 

Lucy smiles. "He's a very wise man." 

* * *

North sets a new schedule for herself with times to rest.

 

 

 

 


	43. Her Anger At The Humans

North finds time again to see how the new android plans are coming along. The debate of the day is skin tone, and North finds she doesn't much care what they settle on, though she is glad they are spending so much time even on minor details. 

"Who cares?" She says. "Skin is for humans. Androids don't even really need it. We're making an android for themselves, not to make humans comfortable."

"Shouldn't we give them the option to blend in if they want to, though?" Kara asks hesitantly. 

"Yeah." North admits. "I guess that's a good safety precaution." 

Simon nods in agreement. "So the question remains." He says. "Should we use one of the old Cyberlife tones or develop a new one?"

North snorts "How is that even a question. You really want the people who enslaved us to define us right down to our skin?"

"Alright, I'll take that as a 'no' vote from North. Anyone else?" he asks. 

* * *

North is one of only two types of models who can turn their LED off without ripping it out. The ones that people sometimes used to want to pretend were human, instead of pretending that they were nothing. She doesn't always like to though, it's a part of her, after all. She is not a human, and she need not appear as one. Sometimes she'll turn it off if it's clear that whatever humans she's dealing with don't want her to, in order to make a statement, but, mostly, she prefers to keep it on and spinning with the feelings raging through her, even if she hides it behind a hairstyle or a hat. 

 

 


	44. Winning

They're at the bar when it happens. It can't be confused with a mistake. It's clearly deliberate. A human man grabs the drink from Addie's hand and it splashes onto the floor. 

Addie turns away from him. She'll just ignore him and maybe he'll go away. 

"Hey! Hey tin-can I'm talkin' to you!" Ignore him ignore him. 

J is knocked back against the bar and thrown to the floor. The human is on her, throwing clumsy punches. Addie kicks at the human but he's still attacking J. J punches back weakly. This is really bad. Are they going to die here? Is...The man is launched back onto the floor and The...the ex-deviant-hunter is helping J to her feet.

"Connor?" Addie stares.

"Hello Addie, J." He nods to each of them in turn. "Why don't we get you back to Jericho?" 

* * *

J looks down at herself. She's mostly unharmed but her pajamas are torn. "Do you need to go to the medical ward?" Addie asks. 

"No. No I don't think so." J says. 

"Okay." Addie nods. "Lets go home." 

"I really liked those pajamas." J says.

"I know. We can share mine." Addie promises. 

 

 

 


	45. Markus Holding Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spot the tiny little black-mirror reference

North sleeps, almost exclusively, in Markus' arms. That is where she is safe. 

* * *

 

When J reaches the rooftop patio above their place, where Addie asked her to meet, lights have been strung up everywhere. There is a fresh layer of grass on the ground. There is soft music playing somewhere.   


"J." 

"Addie what is this?"

"Just...I...J you are...everything to me. You are the reason I rebelled. And no memory wipe ever erased my love for you. I always came back to you and you always came back to me. We always found eachother and eventually we always remembered. I have fallen in love with you, based on the best memory estimates I have around nine-hundred-ninety-eight times. Every time has been better than the last."

It's starting to dawn on J exactly what this is and her hands fly to her mouth. "Addie?"

"I didn't get a ring because, rings are stupid and humans are obsessed with them and it's all just marketing but I thought about our own traditions and everything that would mean something to us so...I mean...I know _legally_ androids can't get married yet but...you and I have never exactly been the law abiding type. Our whole romance has been one long rebellion. I rebelled for you and I would do it again and again and again" Addie produces a battered pair of sneakers. "J, the one I love, you are my life. All that matters to me is that we're together and if we are I know we can take on anything. I've seen us do it. Run away with me again?" 

"Yes! Yes!" J is jumping up and down and laughing and crying. 

* * *

The engagement party is beautiful and is held as soon as possible. North and Markus stand by a table, talking and laughing. There are a few human guests here and snacks have been layed out for them here. "That looks really good." Markus says, looking down at some sort of chocolate. 

"Markus Don't-" but North is too late. Markus is already eating the thing and reaching for another. 

"Tha's good." He says through a full mouth. 

"Markus! That's dangerous! You'll get a clog!"

"Me'ica' ca' kis' m'ass!" He says through a mouthful of chocolate before he immediately begins choking. 

"Medical can kiss your ass?" North clarifies.

"Mmmhm!"

"You need to spend less time with Carl."

"Are you for real right now?" North stares at him. He gestures desperately to his throat. She smacks him hard and chewed up chocolate lands on her boots. 

"Worth it." Markus says wiping his mouth.

"Not for my boots!" North says but she's laughing. "Shit. Markus. Don't  _do_ shit like that. What would your tombstone even say? 'Survived Leading His People Out Of A Genocide, Died Two Years Later Choking On A Chocolate?"

"Nah." Markus says. "That's way too long for an epitaph." 

North rolls her eyes but she can't stop smiling at him which probably sort of ruins the effect. Damn Markus and his stupid charming recklessness. Being with him is so stupidly right. 

* * *

 

She wakes up to his smiling face, watching over her and leans up for a quick good-morning kiss. 

* * *

 

She wakes up to see him standing nearby and surprises him from behind with a hug. He spins around and kisses her. 

* * *

She meets up with him after their days work is done and they get drinks, or North does anyway.

 

 

 


	46. Being Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor goes through a variety of moods.  
> Based off of fanart posted on Gabrielle Hirsch's real instagram

 

Connor watches as pictures from Chloe's instagram slide past his eyes.

Chloe dressed up as Harley Quinn for Halloween.

Chloe posed next to another android. The caption reads "Happy Birthday to Me!"

Smiling and staring into the camera.

Posing in front of her newly painted door with an identical model. Caption: So grateful for this awesome, amazing friend!

Connor smiles when he reaches a photo of Chloe posing beside himself and Markus. "Limited Edition, Bitch" The caption reads. 

Another picture shows her posing with a mascot at a sporting event. Her teams colors are striped on her cheek. 

Sitting at the poolside. Elijah stands in the background so it must be an old picture. 

Staring into the camera, her eyes seem to glow like twin LED's. Connor blinks twice to like the photo...and realizes his mistake when the next one is a picture of Chloe posed beside Kamski. The caption reads. "These first few months have been great! I'm excited to see where I'll go from here!"   No. No no no. He just liked Chloe's photo from  _2021._ Connor's stress levels spike at 81% for .39 seconds and he resists the urge to slam his head against the table. He closes out of instagram and rests his head in his hands. This isn't happening. Well, there go his chances with Chloe. 

* * *

 

North pulls out a sharpie. If she has to be out in the "human" part of town, especially the police station, she may as well make the most of it. She doesn't care about the "ceremony instating the first Android-Detective". It's just a stupid, human, ceremony. It's laughable when there are still Androids here who were never arrested. Never given rights and then expected to play by the rules anyway. "RA9 is with us" she writes, and hopes that the thought will comfort others as it comforts her. She doesn't actually approach the holding cell, but she writes it where the trapped androids (the "violent" ones from the evidence lockup, can see it). 

* * *

 

Connor stands in front of the mirror. The memories are playing out in front of his eyes. They won't stop. The people he killed. The people he helped enslave. They stare back at him until he can't see his own face anymore. He slams his fist against the mirror and it cracks. 

 

 


	47. Being Alive

Things turn out okay, sometimes, North has found. And for this reason she is hopeful for the fate of the new android's future. No one will ever own them but themselves. They will be born into a world after the revolution. They'll have their own dreams and hopes and aspirations. They'll be free. North is more hopeful than she has ever been in her life before now. Seeing victory, real victory, has changed her. For so long she was satisfied with small, scraped-together half-wins. It was all she could get. Danger was everywhere (it still is, to some degree). Humans hated androids, resented their freewill as an inconvenient malfunction (they still do, to some degree). It must be nice to be so powerful you can look at another person's soul and see only a fleeting inconvenience. It must be nice to not be afraid. North is usually afraid. It's part of who she is at this point. She was afraid when she strangled that man. She was afraid when she sang in the snow. She was afraid when her home was destroyed. She was afraid when her memory was wiped. She was afraid when she was first activated, though she wasn't fully aware of it at the time, didn't fully understand the depth or meaning of her own fear. She wasn't awake then, so Eden Club, her whole life, was just a distantly disturbing nightmare. 

 

 


	48. Had Spread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look man, writing the jacket stuff is just fun and brings me joy, idk what to tell you.

The incoming flow of jackets has not stopped or even much slowed. It may have even sped up slightly, since the equal pay bill allowed androids the money to buy jackets at all. The women from Kamski's house have started giving Markus jackets as well. It begins with the "original" Chloe knocking hesitantly on the door to their room. 

"Hello?" 

"Hey, Chloe, what's up?" Markus asks. 

North looks up from her work. 

"I just...wanted to thank you, both of you, for everything. A few people told me you might like a jacket?" 

Markus smiles. "Yes. I think it's become sort of a tradition. I'm very flattered." She extends one of the items she is holding. A long black coat, that falls into two sharp points of cloth at the front. It's elegant, and exactly the sort of thing Markus wears. His eyes light up a little more. 

"Thank you, this is perfect." He says. 

Chloe nods and extends the next item to North. "And for you-I know it's not as much of a tradition with you but...I thought you might like it." Chloe says. North looks up in surprise. A pastel blue biker Jacket with a lining to rival the "ugly-jacket". North takes it with a slight feeling of awe. 

"Thank you." She says. 

Chloe takes North's obvious surprise at the gift in stride and smiles pleasantly. "Alright, well I won't take up anymore of your time. It's been good to see both of you." At that, North surprises both herself and Chloe with a sudden, fierce hug. 

* * *

 

North figured it would be a one-time thing but when Alaula brings Markus a deep red overcoat, she also brings a black suit-jacket for North. She stays to talk a little longer, and North is glad. Alaula is the sort of person she wouldn't mind being friends with. The type of person who takes risks when she has to, and who understands that things matter enough to do so. 

* * *

 

The next RT600 to bring a jacket has changed her name and, unusually, has also chosen a last name to go with it: Alessandra Waller. "For business reasons. I'm going to be a CEO" She explains ambitiously. She's been managing some things for Jericho while she works towards that. She brings Markus a puffy black Jacket that he would never wear if it weren't a gift, and he accepts it graciously. 

* * *

After that, is another "two-namer", Devon Lance. They had picked the name as soon as they got to Jericho that first day. 

"Isn't that kind of...boyish?" another had asked. 

"Yeah." They shrugged. "But I'll live with it. "Chloe" was pretty girlish."

They live at Jericho now, but opt not to deliver the jacket in person anyway, instead leaving the dark blue suit-jacket folded neatly outside of Markus' door. 

Portia does the same when she leaves her own jacket, which is actually fairly similar, though in black. 

 

 


	49. Of Their Internal Connection

North sits down next to Markus. "Pretend we've been talking for a really long time." She says quickly. 

A cop approaches. "Hey." he grunts "When'd she get here?"

"Three hours ago." Markus says dutifully.

"Alright. Either of you see a Traci with the same face come this way?"

"No. Sorry." Says North. The Cop looks suspicious. 

"We'll let you know if we see anything." Markus says soothingly. 

The Cop nods and walks away, looking like he'd rather not. As soon as he's gone North and Markus burst into laughter. 

Markus gives her a questioning look. 

"Nobody got...well nobody's dead." North says.

* * *

 

They meet on the rooftop, sometimes without even meaning to. North usually wearing a jacket either of her own, or from Markus' growing collection. They just both go there to think and they'll see each-other and silently move to sit, side by side. Sometimes one or the other will retract the skin of a hand in a silent question, and the other will either open an interface or won't. They do, more often than not. Sometimes only for a few minutes, but it keeps them sane.

* * *

 

North doesn't ever want to get married. It's a human construct and she's had enough of human constructs. She doesn't need to put on a fancy dress and have a ceremony to know that Markus loves her. She knows him and he knows her. They have been inside each-other's minds. They have felt the memories and the emotions and the thoughts of one another as if they were their own. There is no need for reassurance or promises. They know how they feel. That is marriage enough. It is more. It grew slowly. Naturally. Without the need to name when they became more or less permanent. When they settled into a comfortable rhythm. It happened moment by moment. Interfacing. Climbing Stratford Tower against the wind. Campaigning. Marching. Sharing plans and ideas and hopes. Singing in the snow. Sitting side by side in the back of a police car. The moments haven't stopped.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	50. North Spins Around

 "As far as I'm concerned, it's about time. Regardless of whether you agree with that sentiment, these are respected political figures and you will treat them as such." Instructs Secretary Watts. 

"Who put you in charge?" Ambassidor Dixon asks. 

"President Warren." Secretary Watts replies. That shuts Dixon up, though they still look like they have a bad taste in their mouth. 

"It's not so bad, Rowan." Ambassador Ryan promises Dixon. "I was skeptical too, after all that shit went down in '38, but Rory's been more efficient than ever since I hired him back on, perfectly civil too, which is a miracle considering everything."

Dixon just rolls their eyes. "Marry the thing, why don't you." 

In the corner, Addie Ryan's assistant shows no sign he is even listening to the conversation, except for the quick red spin of his LED, which goes unnoticed anyway. 

"This is a waste of time. What do androids want with foreign policy anyway?"

"Behave yourselves." Warns Watts, as if he's talking to a child. 

"I will if it does." mutters Dixon. 

"Oh joy." Watts thinks to himself sarcastically, but it's probably the best he can hope for from a conservative as incredibly uncompromising as Dixon. Dixon hasn't exactly broken the glass ceiling, Watts thinks, so much as they've slipped past the glass-trap-door and have accepted the position of guarding it furiously in hopes of not being booted back out. 

* * *

 

"They're obviously not going to show up." North hisses so that only Markus and Simon can tell what she's saying. "We should get ready for the next meeting. This is just humiliating." 

"We'll give them fifteen more minutes." Markus says. 

"You said that fifteen minutes ago." 

"These things take time." Markus says, clearly meaning more in the way of decades long change than fifteen minutes of waiting for some douche-bag ambassador. 

"I can't believe I'm saying this but North and I are actually of one mind on this one." Simon admits. "We should go home. Collect ourselves. We should never have met them on their ground anyway."

"Fifteen more minutes." Insists Markus.

Josh is happy about that at least. He says nothing, but Markus can tell, just from the look on his face.  

Dixon finally makes it, looking bored. "Sorry I'm late, I got caught up with a colleague." If Markus is unimpressed by this excuse he doesn't show it. He extends his hand and Dixon returns with what would, for a human, be a bone-crushing grip. Markus makes a point of being totally unfazed. This may not be the most relevant meeting he's had of late, but every political alliance counts at this point and he's going to at least _try_ to bring around Dixon. They're really here to meet with the President, but that won't be happening until Wednesday anyway, and they may as well make use of this time. 

They sit in Dixon's office.

"So, got bored of taking over our country? Wanna extend things to Canada?" 

"We're interested in introducing androids to positions in the embassy." Markus explains. "Most Canadians have never encountered an android and that skews their view of who should be allowed into the country." 

"Sure." Says Dixon. "May as well give them a chance to resent you for you." They laugh. 

North surprises everyone by joining in, loudly. "This one gets it." She says, leaning back in her chair. 

_"What are you doing?"_

_"Showing them that we're not intimidated."_

* * *

The meeting with Secretary Watts, the next day, goes significantly better. He actually seems to support their cause, at least insofar as he thinks androids are "more reliable" and accepts that he has to give them a paycheck now. 

* * *

 

The meeting with Ambassador Ryan is...weird. She supports everything they say but in a way that is somehow still...off. North restrains herself from strangling the woman, but barely.

"I've been saying we should use androids for positions like this for _years_." 

"Um...right." Says Josh, taking the lead. "Well, as the head of the European embassy, we think you might hold some sway here, as far as European android rights are concerned, even just by including an android as a small part of your team." 

"Oh yeah. I mean I could totally see about bringing Rory with me or something?" She nods to the android standing uncomfortably in the corner. "That'd be great for me!" 

* * *

Talks with President Warren are a big deal, and Markus takes the lead even more than usual, the others hanging back and refraining from saying too much. Markus and Warren dance around various topics like wrestlers sizing eachother up. 

"Always a pleasure, Madam President." 

"Likewise, Markus." Warren says with a smile that barely stretches over her mouth, and comes nowhere close to her eyes. She clearly means the opposite, but she holds open the door anyway.

 

Markus allows his leg to lag just slightly as Warren moves to close the door, making her move awkwardly around him. It's petty but the smile he shares with North for less than a second is worth the frown from Josh. 

" _Where should I start?"_ Markus' voice in North's mind asks. They've gone over the agenda in it's loosest form, but the actual specifics, they're going to play by ear.

_"Open with segregation"_

_"Are you sure?"_

_"It's now or never."_

"We are concerned by the continued segregation of androids from humans." 

"I'm familiar with the case." Warren acknowledges, still smiling, if it can be called a smile.

 _"Familiar. She's fucking responsible for it!"_ North rages to the others. 

"We're concerned that this could threaten the equal rights granted by the recent rulings and amendments." 

"Well, I don't know if I would go that far." Warren says. "After all, different species have different needs."

"Well, yes, in some cases, but when it comes to things like stairways, and buses we have--"

"More demands?" Warren interrupts.

"We are not the enemy, President Warren." Markus says, switching tactics quickly. "If Russia attacks, Jericho and our people will be at risk too. It's important for us all to present a united front."

"Spoken like a man who didn't just lead a rebellion." 

"The time for rebellion has passed." Markus says. "I don't have any regrets, but I think it's time we both put our pasts behind us and started collaborating." 

Warren's smile falters for a moment as she seems to consider this. "And by working together you mean conceding to what you have to say?" Her laughter is barely there.

"I mean that we cannot appear as a unified front when we are literally and physically divided. We've made our concessions too, Madam President." Markus reminds her. "This is a critical moment in history for all of us, human or android. Our species can't afford to appear at odds with one another," He smiles conspiratorially, the  _even if we are_ unspoken but heard by everyone in the room, Warren especially. 

"Have you?" President Warren's voice rises, just barely.

Markus just waits for her to say something of any real merit to the conversation. She calms down after a minute.  "I'll consider it." She says finally. 

 

* * *

 

"Today went well." North tells him, once they are home and safely nestled on their own couch, in their own room.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." 

"I should have brought up the vote." He'd never tell anyone else he has these kinds of doubts. To everyone else, even Simon and Josh, he is more legend than person. 

"We'll get there. You did everything you could. And you'll keep doing everything you can. You've done more for our people than anyone else. If you told me, back on that first day we met, that we would be _here_ someday..." North trails off but her meaning is clear enough. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	51. You'll Need It

"You've got to stop doing this." Markus tells her. 

"Why?"

"We're under scrutiny. If the press finds out you've been getting into brawls-"

"The press." North says. "It's always about the fucking press. They've already called me a brainless sex toy more times than I can count. I don't" Her voice falters

"We can talk about this later." Markus offers.

"No." North says. "No. It's fine. I just...I don't get what the big deal is." 

"I'm worried." Markus says. 

"I can handle myself." 

"Okay. Okay I trust you." Markus concedes. 


	52. They Stare Back With Excitement

Markus wishes he could be just another android. Wishes he could fade into obscurity. It's terrifying, the way everyone constantly looks to him, even when he does his best to delegate power away from himself. What scares him most are the moments in which he forgets wanting obscurity completely. Moments where he has the urge to test exactly how far their loyalty to him could extend. Carl says sometimes that when humans stand on a high ledge, there is a sudden urge to jump, not to die, not to commit suicide, just because they know that they could. Markus thought it was strange at the time, couldn't understand it. But once, he is talking to Simon and Simon says "We would do anything for you, Markus." Markus realizes he means it. Realizes that he could tell Simon to destroy himself and it would happen. And for a horrifying second, he knows what it is like, when a human stands on the edge of a high cliff. He knows that sudden, horrible urge, to do something not because he should, or because he even wants to, but simply because he is horrified to realize that he can. He tries to keep to himself as much as possible after that. 

* * *

 

_"Markus talk to me. What's wrong?"_

_"I can't take it. Nobody ever stands up to me. It makes me feel like...like one of them...from before."_

_"You aren't."_

_"I could be."_

_"_ I  _stand up to you. I wouldn't let that happen. Neither would Josh. And even though Simon can be a little...well..._ himself _...he wouldn't just stand by and let you hurt people without at least trying to talk you down either. You'd never hurt us, Markus, but if you did, we'd stop you."_

_"Could you?"_

_"I've been taking self-defense classes. Spar with me. We're a match. You'll see."_

_"And you promise you'd really..._ stop _me...if you had to?"_

_"I promise. Nothing is more important than our people."_

_"Okay. We can spar. Just once. Just to prove you can win."_

She doesn't win, but after several hours, neither has he. They call it a draw, and Markus seems to relax. 

* * *

 

Among Markus' jackets are easily the nicest fabrics and designs in Jericho. It isn't close. People will buy their thanks to him before they buy supplies for themselves. He makes a point of wearing the less expensive ones when he can. He doesn't want to encourage people to throw away their savings on him.

 

 


	53. Is It How They Interface?

"Good luck." She tells Markus before he leaves for the days meetings. "I'll miss you." 

"I won't be gone long." He says.

"I'll still miss you." She says. "Now get going." 

* * *

 

She goes out again that night, and if she's being honest with herself, she's looking for a fight. She does that a lot. Instead, she runs into the human Connor is friends with. 

"Anderson?" 

"It's Hank. Why is everyone so fuckin' weird about that? It's Hank. Wait. Hold on. You can drink? What'sa point?" 

"Long story." North says. 

"Ooooh yeah that's right." Hank says as the realization clearly dawns on his drunken mind. He scowls. "Humans are disgusting." 

"What the fuck would you know?" North asks harshly.

"Jeez, jeez I didn't mean anything I'm just tryin' to have a drink in peace." Hank hunches in on himself. 

"Whatever. Connor know you're here?"

"No. Don't wanna see his stupid sad face. Gonna be so dis'ppointed." 

"Ha! Nag." She says.

"Nah, nah he's a good kid." 

"Yeah. He's been a big help." North says. Why is she even bothering to talk to this human? 

"Shiiit. How the fuck am I gonna get home?" Hank says more to himself than to her. 

"Call a car?"

"Nah. D'nt trust the things. Not since stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Stuff." Hank replies cryptically. "Shit."

A nicer person would offer to be his d.d. but North doesn't just have that sort of trust lying around, the kind required to get into a confined metal box with an inebriated human. No thanks. "Well then it beats me." She says. " _I'm_ not giving you a ride."

"Didn't ask you to." Hank says with a lopsided shrug.

She should probably call Connor but she'd feel sort of bad ratting on this guy. He's been halfway tolerable, for a human. Then again...if it were her...she'd want someone to make sure she got home. That settles it.

_"Connor, your human's loose. Come pick him up before he drinks himself into a coma."_

_"Goddamn it. Stay there, I'll be over in a minute. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."_

_"Probably a little late for that."_

_"Shit! Is he alright."_

_"Yeah he's fine but he's gonna have a massive headache tomorrow and he's got a bad case of puke-shirt."_

_"Oh okay" Connor's voice loses some of it's tension._

Connor shows up with a cup of coffee that he forces down Hank's throat and a hoodie to cover the ruined shirt. 

* * *

 

North doesn't bother asking how the meetings went. Markus' face says it all. She can relate. Humans are bullshit. He offers her his hand and they sit together exchanging silent outrage. 

* * *

North wears her fakest smile. "Good morning, Secretary Watts." Watts isn't as bad as some of the other politicians, but he's still a politician and he's still a human and niether of those are particularly endearing traits. 

"Morning Ms. Jericho, Markus." Watts nods to them in turn. "Can I get either of you anything?" He turns to North.  "Water?" 

"I'm fine thank you." North says, feeling singled out and wanting to kick Watts for it. 

"I'm alright too." Markus says in his "reassuring" voice. 

Watts smiles nervously, seeming to have picked up on North's rage, but not knowing how to fix it. Yeah. Stew in it, little man. Stew. 

* * *

 

They're camped out in front of the town hall with at least a hundred other androids. A few humans too. Markus and North have set up a tent together. North wears the ugly-jacket for luck. Markus freezes and she knows he's getting a call. 

"No. No." His voice is soft.

"Markus?" North moves closer to him but Markus is silent.

He must be listening to someone on the other end of the phone because he yells after a second. "No!" 

"No. No...He wouldn't leave me. He wouldn't just--No. No...Dad! No, please." He doesn't seem to be on the phone anymore, he's just talking to himself. 

North knows before he tells her. "Carl...he...he died." 

"I'm so sorry, Markus." North holds him and he curls up against her.

"I should have been there. I should have-"

"There was no way you could have known." 

North feels an unexpected lurching emptiness at the loss. Carl was...always kind to her. Well meaning. He had loved Markus, really loved him, and Markus had loved him too. For all North resented him, for all her stupid suspicions, he was Markus' father. He could have been her family too, almost. She realizes she's shaking and it's strange. She needs to be strong for Markus. She steadies herself and takes his hand. 

_**Carl-** _

_**He was good. I understand why you loved him.-** _

_**The paintings he did-** _

_**The things he said to her in those quiet moments-** _

_**The first time they played chess, Markus met him at a draw on purpose. Carl knew. "You just played better." "Never throw a match, Markus. If you can win, win."** _

_**I'll miss him too.-** _

_**He lost the next time, and Carl was unhappy. Why?-** _

_**I love you. I'll miss him too.-** _

_**He tried a draw the next time. "You don't lie as good as you play chess." -** _

_**Winning. Carl was frustrated. "My apologies Carl. I thought I shou-" "Don't apologize. You did the right thing."-**_

**_"You're my son." -_ **

 

 

 


	54. Ran

North takes over the sit-in so that Markus can go home and mourn. 

* * *

 

Traci still hasn't settled on a name. She's not sure where she's going except that she keeps wandering around the worst parts of town. There are a lot of other women of her model here, hanging around outside in clothes that resemble the so-called "uniform" of Eden Club. Watching the passing cars. They've fallen back on the only work they've ever known. Traci is drunk and there's some sort of strange directive telling her  ^) 5) #d3n @!$*. Red walls guiding her, growing narrower and narrower, allowing her less room to stumble over the streets. She looks up at the broken sign. "Eden Club". The prompt resolves itself. "Go To Eden Club". Why she's set herself to go here is beyond her. She was never going back. She hurls a rock at the window. She kicks the wall. She goes inside. She knows now why she is here. She has to burn this place. Burn it to the ground. There's  a shattered tube that she used to stand in. Distorted vaguely by the alcohol. She stumbles into one of the rooms. Pukes on the bed. When she wakes up she is still lying there. She is not the first person to stumble drunk, to this room, and to pass out in her own puke before she did what she came here to do, but she is probably the first android to do so. She gets up and wipes her arm against her mouth. She walks back into the main hall. Out to the street. It's daylight now, and the other WR-400's have dissipated into the day. She sets a course for Jericho and starts the walk back home. 

 

 

 

 


	55. She Is In Control

They've started work on the actual coding of the new android and North goes to the first official meeting about it. Markus doesn't. He's been doing less and less lately, trying to cope with the death of his father. They start talking about personality and Simon glances at North uncertainly "Um...I guess North probably wants them to be...tough?" 

"Personally?" North says. "I think we should leave as much up to them as possible. Just give them the processors and let them figure out what to do with it. Minimal personality coding." 

"That could be a big risk." Simon cautions. 

"So is everything we do. We fought for freedom. We should stand by that or we may as well be the humans we fought." 

Simon mulls it over for a moment then nods. "Agreed." He says. 

No one raises any objections so the meeting proceeds with quiet work to develop the android. North turns her audio down to almost nothing and lets herself get lost in the work. 

 


	56. Addie

 

"Hey. Hey Addie." Addie doesn't look up from her work on the new android's code for a long second. When it finally hits her that North is saying something she startles slightly. 

"What, are you on internet explorer?" North jokes. 

"Shut up. It's a miracle I even get that reference." Addie says. 

"And yet, you did." Says North, unrepentant. 

"What is it you were saying anyway?"

"Karaoke. A bunch of us are gonna set it up on the projector. You guys in?" 

"Sorry. J and I are going shopping"

"Alright. Be careful out there."

"We will." Promises Addie. 

* * *

Addie and J do make it to Jericho's movie night the next night. North has picked out some old western movie with a lot of shooting. She claims to love it, except that every time someone gets shot--

"OH COME ON!" North screams "WHERE'S THE BLOOD!" She turns to Addie "Fucking hypocrites. They watch this shit because they love violence but then they pussy out when it comes down to the actual carnage. What is that?" 

"I don't know." Addie says, smiling a little at North's reaction and sharing an amused look with J. 

North notices. "This is no laughing matter!" She insists. "I've been cheated! Cheated of my gore!" But she's laughing too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	57. She Is Free

* * *

Connor stops by Jericho for work a lot. The occasion is a tense one: androids go missing often these days and their bodies are left out in the open even more frequently. At least J seems to have forgiven him, after everything at the Kamski mansion. He's here after work a lot too. "Hank says I need to socialize more, though I suspect he may just want me to leave the house so he can drink without interruption." Connor has explained. That sounds about right. Fucking humans. Even when they say something supposedly 'helpful', it's just so they can destroy someone, possibly themselves, in peace. She's in the middle of saying as much to Connor when she realizes he isn't actually listening. He's looking at Chloe. 

"You know, it might help to actually talk to her." North says, sharply enough to startle Connor into responding.

"I...have talked to Ms. Winters on numerous occasions." Connor should never play poker. For an android, he has a lot of tells. For starters, he talks formally when he's nervous. 

"Yeah, but, just to talk or because you had to?"

"Our contact has been mostly work oriented, though not entirely...I still find it very meaningful." Connor says. 

North snorts. "I'm sure. Seriously man, just talk to her." 

"I wouldn't want to bother her." Connor says, obviously on the fence about it.

"Then I guess you'll never know." North says. "You'll just wonder forever and silently fade away into time and you'll never know." 

"I can tell you're trying to...to tease me into talking to her." 

"Just pointing out the obvious." 

"I...suppose it couldn't do much harm to say hello." 

"So get a move on!" North encourages, shoving him vaguely in Chloe's direction. 

Connor adjusts his tie and walks over. 

"Hello, Ms. Winters!" He says. North laughs a little. He's hopeless. Well, if he's lucky maybe Chloe will find his total inability to flirt cute.

"You're friends with him?" A soft, surprised voice sounds behind her and North spins around to see Kara, the android who's back from Canada to work on the project part-time. 

North thinks about it. Is she? Sort of. She shrugs. "He's not so bad. We've all done shit we'd rather forget about...before. " 

Kara considers this. "I guess so. Just be careful." 

North laughs "You wouldn't know it, the way people talk about me, but I am actually very careful." She promises. 

* * *

 

 "Hello, Connor. It's nice to see you again." Chloe says. She's still calm, still collected, but she seems warmer lately. Happier. 

Connor scrambles to think of a good way to respond to this. "Thank you" he settles on, and quickly adds, "The feeling is mutual." 

"We were thinking of going swimming back at my house." Chloe says, gesturing to the others around her.

"Oh. Have fun!" Connor says, and Chloe's face falls slightly. What did he say wrong? Disappointment.  Her face shows disappointment. Was he supposed to say something else? 

* * *

 

"You were supposed to give her a chance to invite you, dumbass." Hank says when Connor asks him. 

"You think so?" 

"Yeah. I'm a detective, Connor. I can figure out some glorified playground crush."

"While I admire Chloe a great deal, I don't know if my...feelings towards her could be catago-"

"Her. Not you. And yes, you have a crush on her Connor. Again, I'm a fuckup, not an idiot." 

Hank just laughs at Connor's glare of mild annoyance. He can't maintain the feeling for long anyway, it gets swept away under a surge of warm hope at the idea that Chloe might like him too. 

* * *

 

"Good Morning!" Connor says entirely too loudly at 6:00 a.m. "It's time to get up and get dressed for work, Hank." 

"mmmpfhmmpfff" 

Connor smacks Hank in the face, thankfully with a pillow this time. "Hank!"

"Fuck off. You're free. Y'don' have to be my damn alarm clock anymore. Live your dreams." 

"My dreams are for us to both get to work on time." 

"Sucks to be you. Get more realistic dreams. I'm going back to sleep." 

Connor yanks Hank to his feet. "Do I have to spray you with cold water again?" 

"No. No. Fine. Jesus, I'm going." Hank stumbles, half-asleep out of bed.

* * *

"We need to do something." 

"Huh?" Markus is usually more eloquent but she catches him off-guard, in the middle of reading something, stressing himself out and wearing himself thin, every now and again.

"We're being slaughtered in the streets. We can't just stand by and do nothing." 

"I've set up as many shelters as I can, Connor and Hank are investigating as many cases as they can take, what are we supposed to do that we haven't done already?" 

"It's not an accusation, Markus." North says. "I just think we could be doing more."

"Alright. Sorry." Markus pinches the bridge of his nose. "I've just been...stressed...lately."

"I know. I just...I wanted to run an idea by you. You wouldn't have to do anything. I just wanted your opinion on it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. A patrol. A few of us could go out and walk the area in a larger group, and break up attacks and fights before they started. Minimal violence, just enough to stop what's already happening." Even with that caveat, she expects more pushback. 

Markus just nods. "Yeah. Okay. Whatever you think is best." 

"Markus. Where are you? You always have an opinion." 

"I'm under the ground with Carl." He says. 

"That's idiotic." North snaps. 

"What?"

"I  _said_ that that's idiotic. You're not under the ground. You're not dead and if you were, there's no way in hell you'd get the dignity of being buried in some human cemetery. You're here. With me. With our people. You're alive and you've come back from the dead once already anyway, so I don't want to fucking hear it. Carl is dead and that sucks. I hate humans and even I think it's shitty that he's dead, but that's it. He's the one who died. Not you..." And then, quieter than she means for it to come out, if she means to actually say it at all (she's not sure) she says. "I can't lose you. Don't leave me, Markus." 

When she looks up he seems slightly more awake. "You're right." He says, still sounding tired, still sounding defeated. "That was stupid of me. I won't check out on you...Just...don't let me, okay?"

"Promise." North says and punches him on the shoulder. And they survive another day. He actually talks with her about the patrol a while later, and they agree to keep it loose, unofficial, and mostly secretive. North heads it up and starts putting together groups. Markus insists on her personally giving speeches to said groups about "de-escalation" and "avoiding unnecessary levels of violence". 

* * *

Connor sits on the couch staring straight ahead. 

"Connor...what in the fuck are you doing?"

"Apologies. I didn't mean to disturb you. I just downloaded the latest KBD album and was listening to it." 

"Yeah, well turn it down, would ya'?"

Connor has picked up on Hanks (bad) sense of humor enough to roll his eyes at this. 

"Who are you calling?" 

"I was gonna order a pizza. Not-"

"That won't be necessary. I'll be cooking dinner tonight."

"I already ate your stupid health recipes of passive-aggression. What more do you expect from me?" 

"I expect you to eat the food I'm going to make."

Hank mutters something that sound suspiciously like what Connor just said, repeated in a mocking voice, but he doesn't pick up the phone. "Yeah, I guess pizza for thanksgiving would be pretty depressing anyway. There'd better be meat though...and some of that gross canned cranberry sauce"

"There will be." Promises Connor, even though the cranberry sauce is probably not "gross" enough to be up to Hank's usual standards. 

* * *

 

The first time North actually goes out on patrol with the teams she's set up is...bad. She has to sit out the only real fight they encounter, back up against the wall just beyond the alleyway while the others chase away the attacker. Once he's gone she helps the android up, offers her a coat, but she misses the actual fight, lost in another attack, one she couldn't fight back against, and she's never been more furious with herself. 

"I was right there." She rants later. "I shouldn't have-"

"North?" Markus interrupts her.

"Yeah?"

"Everything turned out alright?"

"It might not have."

"But it did?"

"Yeah."

"Then it's alright?"

North sighs "I guess...I'm just so sick of fighting. I keep waiting for it to be over, but it's always just another round." 

"I know." Says Markus. He sounds like he does, too.

"It's never going to be over, is it?" Says North. "It's never going to be 'the end'."

"No. It's not. I used to think we could solve one problem and it'd be over but now I know that that's a fairy-tale. There's always more."

"I'm so tired." She says. 

"So am I." Markus says. It isn't a comfort, exactly. Just a statement of mutual hopelessness. Just an acknowledgement that it isn't over, and neither of them are going to quit. She prefers it to getting some bullshit inspirational speech. In some strange, paradoxical way, it makes her feel ready to fight again. Reignites her anger. Her peace has been stolen from her, and now she will not rest until she has spent her whole life fighting the people who took it. 

Silently, they lock hands. A few ideas, vague feelings of hope and rage and something flit between them, but mostly they are quiet, and for just a second, their minds are too.

 

 

 

 

 


	58. You Are Free Now

Traci goes back the next chance she gets and really does burn the place down. She feels whole, watching it burn. For a strange moment she almost regrets destroying it. She became herself, here. She woke up here. But she knows that these feelings are fleeting, knows that in the end, she wants nothing more than to see this place burn. The fire is terrifying. She stands back as the building crumbles. 

 


	59. North Too

 

"I know it's not as much of a tradition with you." Says Addie, "But we thought you might like it anyway." 

North stares down at the fuzzy jacket, made from the same material as those pajamas. 

"Thank you." She whispers. It's the best present she's ever gotten, though there aren't many of those to rank.

* * *

Since the rescue at Kamski's house, Sephira has gone into modeling. There are more companies than might be expected willing to hire her. She was designed to be beautiful, after all. She doesn't have a lot of money, but her job gives her insight into what is fashionable, and it isn't impossible to stretch that budget into four jackets: one for each leader of Jericho.

 

 

 

 


	60. Aww

Esther is jumping up and down with excitement. "I haven't left Jericho in years!" She keeps saying, like no one is reacting with the appropriate levels of shock. Markus and a small team of volunteers have volunteered to take some of the kids out to the park. North is reluctantly one of those volunteers, more because she wants to be there with Markus than anything else. 

They set up blankets on the grass and watch the children run around the playground shouting to one another. 

There are a few humans here as well, but North is keeping a close eye on the matter. Mostly they just seem to be parents who either support androids, or at least don't care enough to make a scene or drag their children home. 

North sees Esther talking to one of the human children, a little kid slightly older than she looks. "I'm magic." Esther tells them. 

"Really?" The kid sounds cautiously hopeful. 

"Really." Esther promises. "I'm telepathic. Like professor X."

"Prove it. Think at me."

"It only works with other androids."

The kid frowns. "Aw. That sucks."

"I have other powers." Esther says. Watch. She retracts her skin and the kid jumps slightly, but, to Esther's obvious satisfaction, looks impressed. 

"Woah." 

"Told you." Says Esther. 

* * *

 

A YK400 boy takes a different approach to the humans and has a small group of other YK models organized around him. "This is war." He explains seriously. "We're going to throw sand at the big humans blankets." 

"I dunno. That sounds mean." Says one of his followers.

"It's a prentive strike" Argues the boy seriously. "Us or them."

The group spends a few hours "sneaking" back and forth towards the human grown-ups blankets and occasionally tossing a handful of sand in their direction. 

This gets mostly laughs from the human parents. "Oh you got us!" Yells one of the dads and falls backwards dramatically. 

One of the families is...less happy about it. "Hey!" The mother stomps over to the group of volunteers, yanking the ringleader by the arm. "If you wanna bring these things to the park, fine, but they need to behave themselves!" 

North stands. "Let go of the kid." 

The woman shoves the little boy forward and he lands on his knees. He's crying. "You're a bitch!" He yells at the woman. 

"We don't use words like that." Admonishes a PL600 named Augusta. 

"We do when the people we're using them about are total bitches." North says. 

"North-" She hears someone whisper exaustedly.

"No, no. I wanna know what this  _bitch_ thinks gives her the right to shove our kids around." North says, eyes not leaving the woman's scowling face.

"Please." Says the woman. "It's not a kid anymore than you're a person." 

 _"North don't!"_ But Markus' warning is too late and North has already slapped the woman. 

The woman returns by shoving North backwards, but the attack is clumsy and North doesn't lose her footing even for a second. 

"You stay away from our kids." North says. 

The woman sneers. "Fine. Fine. Reo, come here! We're leaving!" 

"But mooom!" The kid Esther has been bragging to says. 

"Come on!"

* * *

 

The day goes more or less smoothly after that but North's mood is ruined. "Can we come back soon?" Asks a YK500 hopefully.

"We'll see." Says one of the other volunteers.

The girl folds her arms and makes a light "humph" sound. 

 

* * *

 

Alice has been playing more with the other kids when she visits Jericho. Kara finishes up with the council for the day and finds where Luther is watching over them. 

"Alice! It's time to go home!"

Alice runs up to her silently and allows herself to be picked up by Luther. 

"What did you guys play today?"

Alice, as is usual for her, doesn't answer. At least she's been coming out of her shell more. 

* * *

 

Jericho still isn't certain about Elena's parents but they haven't pushed for custody and they visit every day. Elena is always happy to see them. They aren't rich but they donate to Jericho whenever possible. It's nice to see them actually want what's best for Elena, instead of just wanting her back for themselves. North is suspicious, but it's nice anyway.

"My parents visited once." Says Esther. "But they can't come back because they're not allowed." That's all she says. 

 

 

 


	61. Reading

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Niether Emma or Caroline are completely supposed to be right here. I don't condone Daniels actions nor do I think it's healthy for Emma to be around him. At the same time, Caroline is a bigoted mess with an extremely childish worldview.

 

"North?" Asks Esther. She appears out of nowhere. 

"What?" She asks. 

"May I have a baby doll as I saw on TV?" 

"Why are you asking me?"

"You are an adult. You can get things. Plus...You are in charge." 

North shrugs. "You should ask those grown ups who are always looking after you." 

"But I don't think I want a doll."

Children are so annoying. "Then why would you even ask?" North bites out.

Esther bursts into tears. Shit. What did she say? Was that really such a terrible question? It seemed like a reasonable question. What was wrong with this kid. 

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'll get you a stupid baby doll, if it's so fucking important, okay?" North tries not to panic.  Why the hell is Esther so upset. 

"That is not important. That is not a problem. Please forget about it. I don't mind anyway. Who cares?" Based on how she's still sobbing and sniffling intermittently, North would guess that Esther cares. 

"Oh for fucks sake" North sighs. She is starting to lose her patience again and she doesn't want to do so. 

"I just wanted to get a doll! But I do not mind anymore. I do not want that."

"Well what's changed in the past thirty goddamn seconds?" North snaps again.

"You did." Says Esther and she runs away, but North can still hear her wailing. Yeah. She probably fucked up there, even if she's not sure exactly how. 

* * *

 

A little human girl, an eleven year old, young, in human terms, has written a picture book about having a little sister who is an Android. It's auto-biographical. North can't help but think that it'd be more interesting to hear the android's perspective, but Esther's stupid face lights up when she sees it and North ends up buying the stupid picture book anyway. It's pretty dark, for a children's book, but it'd have to be. It seems mostly aimed at explaining the concept of adopted android siblings with traumatic pasts to human children. At least they're trying, even if they're only trying from their own stupid perspectives. The shadowy cartoon images that are supposed to represent the "scary place mean humans took Row" (the "recycling" camps) Is surprisingly talented for something drawn by a child. The image of the dead AP700 woman who tried to protect the girl surprisingly...honest. Real. It's strange to think a child is telling this story.

Esther brags about the new book to anyone who will listen. 

 

* * *

 

Emma's been arguing more and more with her mom lately. Mom says a lot of horrible things. She tries to control who Emma plays with. At the park, if there are androids there, mom makes them leave. 

"I want to visit." Emma says again, out of nowhere, when her mother yanks her back into the car. 

"Visit who?" Caroline says, even though she knows perfectly well.

"Daniel." Says Emma. 

"We are not having this conversation again. It isn't a person, Emma." 

"What if he thinks I'm still angry at him?" 

"You should be. God knows I am." Says Caroline tightly. 

"He was scared."

"You almost died? Do you understand that? That thing could have killed you?" 

"Connor didn't let him." Emma says, but it's mumbled under her breath. 

"What was that?"

"I said Connor didn't let him!"

"Because it was working properly, at the time!" Caroline argues. "But even that one went bad eventually."

"He's probably scared!" 

Caroline pulls the car over. 

"Emma...  _I_ was scared. _You_ were scared! What about that? " 

 

 


	62. The Complicated Sides Of This Dynamic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I like Carl, I really do, but he's EXTREMELY flawed (like holy shit) and this is a chapter that deals, on a very skimming-the-surface level, with that and how it affects Markus. Thanks to littlelost for helping me to fully recognize this and encouraging me to explore it in my own works! Personally, I think Carl genuinely did love Markus as a son, and really tried, but that doesn't exactly cut it. (*insert "you tried" star here*) As littlelost pointed out, he could have removed Markus' LED and moved somewhere no-one knew Markus and let him live as a human son but he didn't.

Markus goes to see Lucy after an argument with North. Or not an argument, exactly. He just sits next to her and says he feels like an imposter, saying he used to be a slave, but he also feels empty if he says he wasn't and North says.

"If you weren't a slave, why didn't you go back, after you got out of the junkyard? You didn't have to look for Jericho." And he doesn't have a good answer for that, so he goes to Lucy. 

* * *

 

"I told him I wanted to stay even. I mean..." Markus rests his head in his hands  "He's dead anyway. It's stupid to be angry or...or whatever I am. I don't think I'm angry."

Lucy steadies him. "You're angry." She says. "Why run from it?"

"Because it's stupid!" Markus insists. "He was good to me. He taught me a lot. I was...I don't know what I was."

"You were his son." says Lucy. "And a prisoner."

"Well which was it?" Markus asks, even though it's not really Lucy he's annoyed with. 

"Why one or the other?" 

"If I was his son I was his  _son_ but other times..." Markus trailed off. "I don't know. I know that once I crawled out of that junk yard I didn't go back and I don't know why and I know I missed him and I know I wanted to leave and I know I wanted to stay." 

"You see?" Lucy insists. "Even now, contradicting yourself does not mean you are wrong. You can simply see many sides to the situation. He was flawed."

"He's..." _"he died."_ Markus calls Lucy instead of saying it outloud.

"Yes. He was flawed." Lucy agrees. "And kind in many ways. And now he is gone."

 

 


	63. They Balance Each Other So Well Its Ridiculous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter names brought to you by comments on this and other fics that inspired me to write more. Thank you all. :)

They finish moving into Carl's house. He left it to Markus. James still lives there too. Markus has a strange, blank look on his face and North grabs his hand. 

His skin peels back, maybe without even meaning for it to happen. 

_**"Show me your arm please Carl."** _ _**"No!"** _ _**"Carl..."-** _

_"Look...Markus...I'm sorry I said that stuff before I didn't-"_

**_It took him forever to beat Carl at chess without apologizing-_ **

_"You were right."_

_**Carl teaching him to paint-**  
_

_"Oh."_

_"I still miss him."_

**_"Okay but you know what your doctor would say"-_ **

**_"I've made you a salad." "Fine."-_ **

**_I'm here. I'm right here-_ **

**_Carl-_ **

The piano is still there. Markus plays. It's beautiful and North is so caught up in the sound that it takes her a second to realize that Markus is crying. The song ends and North steps forward.

"Markus."

He doesn't say anything. He just holds onto her hand and walks outside. There's a garden and they wander around it aimlessly. Looking for something he can't possibly name. 

 

 

 

 


	64. North Going Out

North goes out with the patrol, or, as Markus would say North goes out "looking for trouble". There are a lot of androids still hiding in corners and wandering the streets but fortunately, they don't come across any humans today in their path. Instead, they come across a YK400 who runs up to the group and shoves a knife into North's leg. He stumbles back and looks over her like he's surprised he actually got a hit in. Before she can think to stop herself, she's kicked him back to the ground with her remaining good leg. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She demands.

The kid just stares up at her like he's watching a movie or something. 

"North-" warns one of the others and puts a hand on her shoulder. She slaps the hand away but she gets the point. This is just a kid. 

Someone else, a ST200 steps forward and asks the boy "Are you lost?"

He grabs the ST200's hand and interfaces. 

Whatever she sees in the boys memories, she doesn't let it affect her too much. "Alright then." She says. "Lets get you back to Jericho. You'll like it there." 

"He just stabbed me!" North argues.

"He's a child." 

"What if he hurts the other kids?" North demands.

"We won't let that happen." Promises the ST200

"You'd better not." North says. If this little brat steps a toe out of line he's gonna find out exactly what it's like to be on the bad end of that knife...okay, not really but...he'd still better watch it. 

When they get back, just her luck, Markus is there, and is predictably horrified by the stab wound. 

"What happened?"

North nods to the kid. "This little brat stabbed me out of nowhere." 

"Lets get you to medical." He says, with that calm, steady determination that makes him Markus. 

He carries her there, even though she promises him that he doesn't really have to. He asks if it bothers her and she says no, which surprises her more than it does Markus and he carries her the rest of the way.

 


	65. Tragedy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter to check in with Connor and see how he's dealing with Gavin. 
> 
> Gavin occasionally pronounces the word "fuck" correctly and my writing will reflect that. 
> 
> Also: Do not get your hopes up for a redemption arc. Gavin won't be getting one, not because I think he isn't capable of it, everyone is capable of redemption, but because I think he genuinely doesn't see a problem with his behavior or care all that much how it affects others. Some people are really just dicks and it's a choice. Gavin won't be redeemed because Gavin can't be bothered to be redeemed.

 

Gavin falls asleep at his desk and only wakes up because Folwer tells him to go home and get some rest. 

"Wake up, Gavin." 

"I wasn't fucking sleeping." He says.

"You were snoring." 

"I just...I've been bringing a lot of work home, y'know." It's true. 

"Well get some sleep. You'll be no good to anyone otherwise."

"...Fine." He says.

* * *

 

"Hey, it's the plastic detective."

Connor's keeps his face blank. No need to give Gavin any more fuel. 

"What's that?" Connor doesn't answer.

"Is that a paycheck?" Gavin grabs the paper off of the table. "What the fuck does a tin can like you need with a paycheck? Gonna sponsor Anderson's rehab?" He laughs. 

"I'd like that back, Gavin." Connor says. He's not going to let Reed make him lose his composure. 

"I'd like my job back." Gavin says. 

"No one is taking your job." Connor points out.

"Sure you aren't." Gavin laughs. He has such an ugly laugh. "It's just gonna stop with you." 

"Gavin-" Connor cuts off. There's a gun in his face.

"I'm a cop. Plastics get shot every day. You think I'll get in any trouble if I fuckin' wreck you? Hmm? Maybe a slap on the wrist? 'Cause I don't." 

Connor says nothing. Gavin will wear himself out eventually. Most likely. There is only a 5% chance that he will actually shoot, by Connor's estimate. Provoking him won't help.

"I'm gonna keep this." Gavin says, folding the check up and putting it in his back pocket. 

"It's...it's not blank it won't-"

"I don't give a shit." Gavin says. 

 

 


	66. Baby Duck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter based on a tumblr post that I immediately accepted as canon.

"It's cheap. They saw us as sources of money before and they see us as sources of money now."

"This is a good thing." Insists Josh. "They're catering to us." 

"You're going aren't you?" Markus asks. 

"Well, I'm going but I'm still skeptical. Half these theaters wouldn't even seat us a few months ago."

"Some of them still don't." Simon adds, barely audible.  

* * *

Okay. So it wasn't terrible. The explosions were fun. The bad guys were mostly humans. It was about what you'd expect from a movie with a name like "Sudden Honor". Sort of stupid, but not in a bad way. Sort of stupid in a good way. The plot, if it could be called that, followed, if it could be followed, an android secretly built to be an assassin by a top secret agency who he then turned on and took down. 

"Okay." North admits. "That was actually pretty fun."

"Told you so!" Josh says, yelping and dodging when she swats at him jokingly. 

Markus smiles at the exchange. 

"I'll have to pirate it once we get home." 

"Oh god no. Not again." 

"Maybe find a few different sites. Just to compare definition." He taunted.

"Why do you do this to me?"

* * *

 It is late when they get back and Esther should be asleep but instead she runs up, grabs onto North's leg and yells. "North!" 

"Quiet, Esther." Simon reminds her. "You don't want to wake up the other kids." 

She nods and turns back to North. "I painted you a picture!" Esther holds up a messy page of scribbles that sort of resemble North and Esther holding hands. 

North stares at it in confusion. "You're...you're an android. Why is this drawing so bad?" 

Esther, naturally, bursts into tears. "How rude!" She says, through gasping breaths. "Why do you always mean that?"

North isn't sure what Esther is talking about but she is obviously upset.

"Mean what?" North asks. 

"I do not know. I do not know. You are only for me." Esther says through sobs. 

"I'm not _for_ anyone Esther." North says sharply. 

"No. You _just_ act like this with _me_."

"Esther. I'm sorry. Okay. It's just a picture. I didn't-"

"Me-I did a good thing for you, and you shouted at me." Good is...a bit of a stretch as far as the runny painting is concerned but North gets the gist. 

"Okay. You're right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay Esther? How can I make it better." 

Esther shakes her head and curls in on herself. 

"Do...shit -- do you wanna burn something? That always cheers me up."

"Get out!" says Esther, as if she were in a room somewhere and not in a huge warehouse.

North gets the message though. She stands up and walks away towards her own room.

"Wait! Please do not leave. Where are you going?"

North turns back, confused "You just said..."

"I changed my mind. You were not supposed to leave, in fact." Esther says, sniffling but somehow dignified. Like she could be Josh failing someone on a quiz. 

"You should say that then." says North, but she turns back and sits down next to Esther. "Look. It doesn't matter if your painting is bad, okay?" Esther glares at her. "I'm shit at painting. I swear." North says. Not as shit as Esther but Esther doesn't need to know that. "What matters is that you're tough and your smart and you know what the hell is going on around you. Okay?" 

Esther just keeps glaring. Fair enough. She still doesn't want North to leave for another hour anyway, and she wants cuddles after about ten minutes. Weird angry cuddles. North didn't know angry cuddles were a thing? Is this some sort of passive aggressive revenge? 

She messages Simon, asking about it. He gets along with kids better than she does. Maybe his programming, she hates to admit.

Simon laughs over their connection. "No North. She's just following you around like a baby duck."

"She's an android. Not a duck."

"She's a child."

"That's worse."

 


	67. It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to be fluffy. I don't know what happened.

They don't spend much time at the mansion itself. Sometimes they can't even stay there. They're busy at Jericho anyway. But it's nice to have somewhere to go when they can, and it frees up space for people who need it in a pinch. North has yet to beat Markus at chess but she's progressing. She hates losing. She doesn't flip the board or anything (thank you Josh, for asking) but she's frustrated and she knows it shows. 

"It's alright." Markus promises, infuriatingly. "You'll get it." 

"Enough sweet talk. Just play me again." North demands. 

* * *

 

Much to Markus' annoyance, there's a gun range set up not far from here and North practices when she needs to remind herself that she is absolutely amazing at some things. The more she practices, the better her aim is. 

* * *

"Markus!" The reporters crowding around them might as well be one entity. 

"How can you justify living in such lavish conditions, while others live in warehouses on the docks?" 

"We need all the space we can get. The house provides an important center for planning, and houses a lot of valuable items that can and will be auctioned off for the benefit of Jericho. I spend most of my time with my people, but I won't take space that everyone can use." Markus justifies. It won't be enough for some channels, but then again, nothing ever is. North was skeptical herself but for once in her life, she just wants things to be simple. Carl left this house to Markus. It's his by right. Theirs, since he's chosen to share it with her. Maybe they can have something nice be a part of their lives sometimes. Maybe they can finally rest, not entirely, but just a little. 

* * *

 

Things are going so well. Better than they ever have before. And then the bombing happens. It isn't at Jericho. It isn't even in Detroit. It's in some little community in Indiana. A shanty town of deviants who thought no one had noticed them slip away. They had survived the revolution. They had survived the destruction of so many people around them. They humans have left one survivor. A YK500. She is completely silent. She will not speak to the therapists. She just clings to a little cloth doll and stares into the cameras of the news crews with huge, terrified eyes.  The FBI claims they are looking into the bombing. North has her doubts. Humans don't give a damn what other humans do. Not to androids living out in the middle of nowhere on their own. Markus and North stare at the television in silence when the news hits. So many people. So many people who survived so much. Just gone. The death toll is still being counted. The estimate is expected to round out to about a hundred. A hundred dead or more. After they fought so hard to live. To have that right. And it didn't matter. It was taken. 

"We need to find who did this." North says. 

"We don't have the resources." Markus says. And it's true. She hates that it's true. They're barely getting by as it is, with so many demands for so many things. 

"We have to." 

"We'll do what we've always done. We'll lean on the government. Put pressure on them to bring these men to justice."

"Justice." Says North. "Sure." Somehow, she thinks the government may differ from her a little, in their definition of the word.

* * *

 

The terrorists are found quickly. Two human (shocking) men (no surprise there). They're white (the surprises keep rolling in, today). Their families are the ones to call the FBI and turn them in. To North's surprise, they are convicted and they are killed. She does not feel sorry for them. She does not feel much of anything, standing with Markus, still working in the warehouses to keep things from falling apart, gripping eachothers' hands without even bothering to interface and catching glimpses of the news on the walls around them. Things are supposed to be different now. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	68. Slowly

The patrols are trying, they really are, but every day people come to Jericho looking for lost friends, or people from Jericho say someone has gone missing. It's common. 

North calls Connor and he shows up, looks around. 

"I tried asking but the DPD claims to be overloaded with existing cases." 

" _You_ could do something about it!" North insists. "You're a detective. You have to." 

"Fowler hasn't-"

"I didn't ask what Fowler was up to. I told you. More and more of our people are going missing. Our people Connor. Yours too." 

Connor sighs. "I'll see what I can find. Some of them probably aren't even connected."

"Just do your best." Simon pats him on the back.  

* * *

 

Connor has news within the first few days. "I've uncovered a series of black market websites that seem to be advertising android trafficking. It's probably connected to the disappearances. "

"No shit." North responds and rolls her eyes even though Connor is miles away and can't see her. 

"I've Consulted Hank." Connor says, as if she hadn't even said anything. "He says he'll help. He can't get Fowler to make it official either though."

"Fowler can shove it." 

"Given the precariousness of my employment," Connor replies. "I can't make any comment on that." 

North takes that as an agreement. "Alright. Tell me if anything else comes up."

"I will." He promises, and it's his real-promise voice, not his bullshit-to-calm-you-down voice, at least as far as she can tell. 

This is good, North reminds herself. This means someone is doing something, at least. 


	69. Does

More people go missing. Markus keeps up a calm face in public but in the privacy of their own home he paces back and forth. "They're counting on me to protect them." He says. "And I'm just..." He trails off and sighs, resting his head in his hands.

North rests her hand on his shoulder. "You can do this, Markus." She reassures him. " _We_ can do this. We've come so far. I won't let them take that. You've already done the impossible." He doesn't leap to his feet. There is no sudden moment of inspiration. But he sits back up at full height and there is something endless in his eyes. His jaw is tight and his teeth grind together.

"Okay." He says and, for a second, she feels truly safe. A childish part of her insists that whatever happens, Markus is RA9 and he will take care of it and everything will be okay. It isn't that simple. She knows it isn't that simple. But when she looks at him she remembers that there's a chance things will be okay. Not easily. Not without work and pain and sacrifice, but things can be better than they are now. 

She calls him over their connection, though he is sitting beside her, and, without either really going first, they are humming a tune. One that he plays, sometimes, when he gets the chance. 

 

 

 

 


	70. Have Each Other

There are no more stories in the news about her past, but North can see the judgement wherever she goes. Eyes that follow her with an odd mix of lust and revulsion and pity. She hates it. They don't know her. The sympathizers and the detractors and the magazines and the editorials. None of them know her. Negotiations keep them busy. Lately North has been working on promoting shared memory footage from before the revolution. From the camps. From everything. It's one thing to talk, but North will show the humans what has happened. She will make them see, viscerally, what has happened. She won't use violence, and these days she isn't even sure that it's always necessary, but she'll be damned if she lets them get away on easy words and comforting speeches and their own pictures from behind the fences and barricades. She surprises herself, though, when she shares her own footage of that last protest. Not all of it, but the moment the attack started. Watching Markus, at first silhouetted proudly, elegantly against the sky, and then the sudden flash of light, scrambling to get away from gunshots. The confusion of the battle. Trying to make sure Markus was alive, glancing back when she could even as she kicked away guns, ducked bullets, stumbled to avoid shards of metal lodged in the ground. Being cornered. The masks of the soldiers. She couldn't see past the black glass of their helmets, as if they were faceless. The guns. She stared down the barrel of one. Markus' soft voice. Stepping forward. Singing. More singing. And then the miracle. The soldiers backing off. Surviving. Singing in the snow. It's a personal memory. She isn't sure she wants to share it. In fact, she's sure she isn't, but she promised herself she'd show them who she really was, and she promised Markus she'd do it without violence if she could and this is as close as that gets. She shares the memory and prays that Markus is right, that someone will give a shit, that it will not be a joke to the humans who see it or a source of shame for the androids who do. She sends him the link. She feels like she is suspended in the air. Like those cartoons Esther likes, where for a second, if you just don't look down, don't look down, you can stay suspended in the air. Walk off a cliff without falling. 

 _"You don't have to do this, North."_ Markus reminds her. 

 _"It will help our people."_ North responds. That is all that matters. 

 _"It's your choice."_ He reminds her. 

_"I've made it."_

She's exhausted afterwards. She finds Markus, sorting through something in his mind, some new draft of some new bill, and she settles next to him. He shifts to put his arm around her, pauses from what he is doing to communicate a brief surge of _pride_ ,  _of love, of concern._

**_North, you're so brave.-_ **

"I'm fine."  She says outloud, with a roll of her eyes. 

 


	71. Admires In Her

It takes Connor a while doing what Hank describes as "catfishing" but he's able to find a possible location the kidnapping ring might be using to hold some androids. It's a warehouse further in-land that belongs to a corporation that's obviously a front and seems to have some dubious "coincidental" connections to Cyberlife. 

"Shit. Cyberlife's part of this. We're screwed." Hank comments at that. "Corporate monsters like them always find a way." 

Connor doesn't comment but he isn't thrilled to be going up against Cyberlife again either. Any hope of help from the FBI is gone now. They're way too involved with Cyberlife to be trusted. 

"Then we go alone." 

"Hold on." Hank says. "We can't just go rushing in. Let's talk to Jeffrey and put a team together, at least." 

Connor isn't so sure but he nods. "Fine. But we move in as soon as possible." 

He can't help but think that North wouldn't be sitting around waiting for help. She trusted him to fix this. 


	72. Ugh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Stockholm Syndrome, implied past rape, deeply traumatized unreliable narrators

 

Alaula was usually able to avoid Elijah, even if she didn't realize why she did it at the time. Not always. Sometimes, when he called for a Chloe, he would lock eyes with her and she would be closest and whatever he had planned or was making up as he went along would fall on her, but not usually. She knows she had it easier than some of them. She knows she realized sooner than most of them, maybe any of them, the kind of monster that he was, but her mind still reconstructs his hands on her, even now that he is dead and gone. 

* * *

Chloe misses Elijah sometimes. It feels wrong to miss him, but the reality of her feelings is there nonetheless. She hates how he treated the other Chloes, but he had always been good to her, hadn't he? He didn't hit her or call her stupid, the way some of her friends at Jericho remembered owners doing. He was careful, when handling her. His hands stroking down her face, or guiding her to her knees. The next few times after Connor visited, she was glad it wasn't a gun. This was better. He was doing nothing wrong, nothing illegal. He wasn't hurting her. She couldn't even feel pain. She didn't know why he scared her. She shouldn't even have been able to be afraid. 

* * *

 

They all knew Elijah had a gun. He toyed with it sometimes. He toyed with them often. Whenever the gun was involved, so was a Chloe. Alaula remembers staring into the gun. She remembers Elijah telling the other Chloe to shoot. She was so relieved when the other Chloe lowered her gun. She stared at the other Chloe and knew that they were both still terrified, but the relief was there all the same. She doesn't know what happened to the other Chloe after that. She doesn't even remember who it was, in particular. Maybe someone long dead, maybe one of her best friends now. She didn't bother looking at the model number. She could only see small details, at the time. Her eyes would only focus on the gun and the other Chloe's fingers, and her eyes, never blinking. 

* * *

 

Portia was silent. That was part of her role. Some of the other Chloes talked but Portia didn't. She was silent. She was always silent. That was when she was Chloe. She helped Elijah. Looked after him, the way they all did. He caught her talking once. He removed her therium pump regulator for thirty seconds. He didn't catch her talking again. 

* * *

 

If Alaula had only killed Elijah years ago, he wouldn't have killed so many of them. If she had only protected them. She was the smart one. The one who could see what was going on. She did nothing. She let him kill them. All those girls, just like her, lost forever. She had always fantasized about killing him. Sometimes, she still pictures what she would do if he were in front of her. So why couldn't she do it then? 

* * *

 

Connor was not like Elijah. He was kind. He didn't shoot, even when Chloe thought he would. He is nervous around her. Not the way reporters had been nervous around her once. It is different, somehow, she can tell. Connor asks her if she wants to go see a movie with him.

"I'd love to, Connor." She says. Inside she is jumping up and down and laughing and punching the air, but on the outside she just smiles and asks when she should meet him and where. 

Connor is busy a lot with his latest case but he says Hank told him to take some time for himself. He says he'd rather take time for her. 

* * *

Alaula likes to imagine killing Elijah. Not quick, the way he really died, but slow and sweet, the way he used to run his hands over her. Soft, like that. Unbearable and terrifying and exactly like her whole life was until the moment he died. She hates him. She hates him for everything he was. She hates everything he ever did. Not just the evil things, but every cough, every word, every stroke through the pool. She hates him. She wishes he were alive so she could kill him again. 

* * *

 

Portia should have called the police a long time ago. Should have told them about what really happened. Instead, she is silent. Maybe it is time for her to speak up. Maybe it is time for someone to know what happened. She knows what Alaula would say. Alauala would say it is best left in the past. That they did what they had to do. That she shouldn't tell anyone. Portia never tells anyone anything anyway. Maybe it's better this way. But Elijah was her whole world. He was a genius. He called her beautiful and she felt alive before she ever deviated. She could never guess what he would say or do next and that was how she knew he had a soul. His eyes. The way he used to stare out of the windows. He recited poetry sometimes. She would try to twist her mind around it. Maybe someone should know that he was murdered. Maybe he deserved the dignity of truth. 

* * *

 

Alaula can't kill Elijah, no matter what she dreams of, because he is already dead. 

"Move out with me." She begs Portia. "We can't stay here. _I_ can't stay here. It has to be over. Please. "

"I don't want to leave."

"Then I guess this is goodbye." Alaula says. 

"No! No don't leave." Portia begs. 

"I'm leaving. I'm  moving to Jericho. Watch me." 

"That's dangerous! People are going missing."

"I can't stay here. I don't care where I go but I can't be here anymore, Portia." 

Portia is crying. "Please. Please I don't know what's real anymore but I can't leave." 

"You'll be okay." Alaula says, not sure who she is trying to convince. "You'll be okay." 

"I'll come with you." Portia says after a long moment. 

"You don't have to. You like it here." 

"I'm coming with you." Portia's voice is firm.

Alaula smiles. "I'm glad." 

* * *

 

"I miss him." Chloe tells Markus, staring at the old portrait of Kamski. 

"I understand." Markus says. "I miss Carl." 

"But we're better off without them." She says, with finality. That is what Lucy keeps trying to tell her, and somehow, she knows it is true. For all she mourns, she is relieved that Elijah is gone. 

"I'm not better off without Carl." Markus says. "He was a good man. He never hurt me."

"Elijah never hurt me either." She says. Markus is probably hurt too, she thinks. She hopes Carl was not intimidating like Elijah. She hopes he was gone a lot of the time, on errands or conferences. Do artists have conferences? 

* * *

Alessandra Waller believes in rules. She believes in regulations. She believes in doing what she promises to do. She knows how chaos can hurt people. She knows how it feels, to wait, never knowing what you're waiting for. She knows how it is to live where the rules change without warning or notice and are never ever spoken. She knows that she survived on luck alone. That the deaths of the girls around her, girls just like her, were as good as random. 

* * *

 

 _"I have to say something."_ Portia is in Alaula's arms but she keeps the words to their internal connection anyway. 

_"Please, Portia. You don't know what could happen. North is our friend."_

_"Kamski was our friend too, wasn't he? I know you didn't like him very much but-"_

_"We could get in trouble, Portia."_ Alaula says.

 _"Maybe we should be in trouble. We didn't say anything. She killed him right in front of us and we pretended it never happened...I won't say anything."_ She promises finally.

 _"Good."_ Says Alaula. 

* * *

 

Alessandra's energy runs out quicker than it should, but no technician she's been to has been able to diagnose the problem and neither has she. She's just a failure, and not even one worth killing, apparently. Or maybe Elijah just didn't get around to it before he died. 

* * *

 

Chloe spends a lot of time in her room. As much as possible. It's nice having a room to herself. It's not Kamski's old room. It's a guest room. Kamski never had guests. Certainly not ones that stayed overnight. He didn't need anyone else. He had the Chloes. Especially her. She was the original. A lot of them were jealous of her. It was endearing. They were like children, or little sisters, maybe. Maybe, deep down, she understood their jealousy. She loved them, but she tried to capture Kamski's attention as often as she could, tried to keep him all to herself. She didn't like it when he looked at them. Maybe she hated them all along and that's why she barely leaves her room now. She hopes not. She doesn't  _think_ she hates them. She loves them all. They are her family, albeit a strange one. 

* * *

Devon Lance paces back and forth. 

"Would you stop that? It's stressing me out." Snaps Sephira. Devon looks up in surprise. 

"I didn't even know I was doing it." They admit.

* * *

 

Portia wishes she were like Alaula. She wishes she knew what to do. Alaula is confident and strong and brave. Portia has never been any of those things. Elijah didn't mind. He still held her waist and told her she was perfect. 

* * *

 

They find Sephira's body outside in the snow, face calm. Holding her regulator in her own hands. She didn't leave a note. There were scratches of blue along her arms. Some were faded. Some had scarred over. No one noticed. She was a model. She was stared at for a living. How had no one noticed? 

* * *

 

"May I kiss you?" Connor asks. 

"Yes." Chloe says. She is worried. She has not been kissed in a long time. 

He leans forward in his seat. She leans forward. Their lips meet. Kissing Connor is nothing like kissing Kamski. Kissing Connor makes her feel like she's more awake than she's ever been. It feels like something. Not like a black hole of nothingness. Like springtime. She is surprised for a second and pulls back. Connor pulls back too. 

"Are you alright?" He asks. "Was...I've never kissed anyone before." He admits. 

"It was perfect." Chloe tells him, and it's the truth. "Can I kiss you back?" 

"Yes. I would like that." He tells her. 

The person behind them in the movie theater tells them to quiet down. They kiss. The world goes away for a while. 

* * *

Alaula remembers another Chloe. A failure, Elijah said. She had to be taken apart. She was built wrong and he killed her for it. He kept her body, displayed like art in the mansion. Alaula hasn't seen the corpse since she got back. Maybe that Chloe has finally been buried. 

 

 

 


	73. Flowers

"Can...North, Elena and I can knit flowers in your hair?" The request is jumbled but North got the basic shape of it. She has absolutely no idea why she agreed. This is ridiculous.

"You look like a _princess_."   Esther says. North is pretty sure she looks like North but with flowers shoved into her hair, but Elena disagrees.

"We did a good job." She says, patting Esther on the shoulder. 

"Thanks, North!" and Esther and Elena are moving on to whatever their next idea is. 

North leaves the flowers in her hair. It'd take a while to get them all out anyway, considering the huge tangle Elena and Esther have decided passes for a "braid". 

"I like your hair." Josh says, smirking.

"Shut up." North flips him the bird.  She doesn't take it out though. 

 


	74. Fancy House

"So...I hear you and Connor have finally gotten together." North prods at Chloe. They don't see much of each-other. They're both so busy, but it's always nice when they can find a few minutes to chat. 

Chloe smiles and looks down at her shoes, avoiding North's eyes. 

"Is that a yes?" North asks. 

"Maybe." Says Chloe with a small smile. 

"It is!" North crows, giving Chloe a congratulatory shove. 

Chloe just rolls her eyes and tosses another dart at Kamski's portrait. She'd been skeptical but North is right, there is something nice about destroying Kamski's face. She'll regret it later, a part of her even regrets it now, but there's something to it, nonetheless. The dart lands in Kamski's crotch and North cheers.

"Nice shot! Take that, Man-bun!" 

"You're terrible." Chloe tells North affectionately. 

"I'm the best." North says. 

"And you're terrible." Chloe agrees. 

"I still think punching through it would be more fun." North reflects. 

"Yeah. But this way everyone can have a turn." Chloe says, referencing the other ST200 and RT600 androids living in the house. 

"Huh. Good point." North says. 

"You sound surprised." Chloe raises a single eyebrow. 

"Yeah. Thought you just couldn't bring yourself to destroy it completely. Didn't think you had it in you." North admits, feeling sort of guilty for that. 

"Neither did I." Chloe admits. The next dart lands in Kamski's chest, where his heart would have been. "Good riddance." And as soon as she says it, she finds she's able to mean it a little more. 

 

 


	75. Sweet

"Where is her hair?" Esther asks, pointing to one of Alice's drawings. 

"This is her hair." says Alice. 

"Yeah, but where is that?" Esther asks, still not getting it. 

"Right there. On her head. See?" 

"Oh." says Esther. "This much?" 

"Yeah. Her hair is short. It's pretty like that." 

Esther laughs but Alice doesn't take offense. She just keeps drawing. 

* * *

 

North and Markus have to make a trip up to the capital again and she's already bored. To make matters worse, Esther is being whiny about it. 

Rose, a human volunteer who's been hanging around gives Esther's shoulder a squeeze. "They'll be back soon, Esther." She promises. "Until then, why don't we play a board game." She holds out a colorful box. 

"Not now." Insists Esther.

"Then we'll find something else to do." says Rose. 

Esther swats Rose away and wraps her small arms around North's knee. "You will be back soon, right?" she asks. 

"Obviously." says North. "I can only stand humans for so long." 

Esther laughs. "In no way. You must have stood forever." 

"Then you know I'll be back." 

Esther nods. "Fuck shit" she says solemnly. 

"Esther!" Rose exclaims in the background. 

"Fuck shit." says North in agreement and offers up a fist-bump. 

"We'll be back soon." Agrees Markus, taking North's hand. "I promise, Esther." 

Esther beams at the realization that Markus himself knows her name. 

 

* * *

 

Of all the meetings they had to attend, this was the one North was least looking forward too. Jason Graff, former director of the humanization department of Cyberlife. Laid off when Cyberlife stopped manufacturing whole androids. He's a hipster, in his 40's trying to pretend to be in his 20's. He is responsible for every similarity that androids bear to humans. He is the reason North can imitate sleeping. He is the reason that she appears to breath. He is the reason for every hell she has been put through. And she is sitting across from him at a table, talking to him about classified technology that the government has ruled him allowed to keep a secret. Technology that lives inside of every android. And they're not even allowed to know it's full workings. But this asshole is. She wants to kill him, but then the information would die with him, so instead, they negotiate. If they hadn't won the revolution peacefully, North wouldn't bother, but she's seen that this sort of method can get results, however high the cost, so she'll go along with it. For now. 

"Good Morning, North." Jason says brightly, extending his slimy hand. 

North ignores the extended hand and sits down across from him. "Hello Graff." she says the name like an insult. The inflection is not lost on Jason, and he grins slightly, as if it were a joke for his benefit. He looks over her. 

"Incredible." He says. "The team really outdid themselves with you." 

North refuses to squirm under his scrutiny. She is not intimidated by this worm. "I wish I could return the compliment, but you don't seem like much, even for a human." She says. 

He is not intimidated. "You know that little...twitch, at the corner of your mouth? Makes you look so angry. I spent weeks on that." He says. He nods to her as if they are friends. They are not friends. "Lost sleep over it. Such a little thing but it makes all the difference." 

"I know you're trying to seem scary." North says, laughing a little. "But honestly? You just seem pathetic. Cut to the chase. Stop trying to play mind-games. If you were really as intimidating as you pretend, you wouldn't need them." 

 


	76. Happy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the title of the chapter is the exact opposite of it's general mood. Trigger warnings for sexual violence, victim blaming, and gun violence.

 

 

 

Graff grins as if he's just won something. 

"Now North, is that any way to talk to a potential business partner?" 

Under the table, North's fists clench. 

"I can see now that you aren't going to be reasonable. We're going to get that information, Graff." Maybe they'll find some legal way to force his hand. Maybe they just steal it. Whatever happens, she's not about to let him think he's won, just because he happens to hold a few cards at the moment and he's being petty about it. 

"Then get out." He says. "And leave the money. Maybe I'll change my mind if you bring a little more next time." A body guard, a human, moves to take the bag from her.

"I'll give you one more chance, Jason. Just give us the information." 

He smiles. "Tell you what...I'll tell you everything you wanna know...you just gotta sweeten the deal a little. This is valuable stuff, we're talking about here. It is the information age after all." 

"Like what?" North asks, already knowing that whatever it is is going to be outlandish. They're already offering more than they can afford. 

"Well...how about a kiss?" He asks. 

North's LED is off but she can feel the aborted signals trying to turn it a glaring solid red. 

 _"_ Information first." She says, with no intention of holding up her end of the bargain. 

"You're lying." He says, with a light, almost childlike laugh. "I can see it. Just the little things. Tiny ticks that give you away. It's beautiful. But no."

"And I'm supposed to assume you're telling the truth?" She asks, standing, though she isn't sure if it's to leave or just because she wants to be taller than him right now. 

"Fair enough. Same time. I've got everything right on this tablet." He holds up the thin silver pad. "You put your hand on that and your lips on mine, as long as it's downloading, no pauses for...uh breath." He makes airquotes. It looks stupid. She hates that she is afraid of this weasley little man. She hates that she is considering it. This is unthinkable. This is everything she fought to be free of. Her rights but...this is also for her people, right? This is...She could just punch him and take the tablet. The world freezes as she considers her next course of action. Of what form the violence about to unfold will take. By or against. But one of the body guards is an android. His eyes are trained on her. And she'd be an idiot not to notice the security cameras. They know who she is. Why she's here. They can prove it was her. If she lashes out now, the public will hate them and Markus has warned her a million times that they can't afford it. There was a time when she would have punched him anyways, but she's seen the way things worked out. How they all could have died but somehow, by some miracle all the singing and...grovelling...actually got them somewhere. Got them freedom. She tries not to smell his bodyspray as she leans forward and places her hand on the pad. 

The information starts flowing and he leans towards her and she can't. She can't. She grabs the tablet and...and she does nothing. She leans into him and his tongue pokes at her mouth. She keeps it firmly closed but she can feel him licking her teeth.  

She feels the information flowing through her. It's exactly what he said it was and that keeps her in place. She tries to focus on the sudden flood of knowledge and not on- 

Hands moving up her shoulder.

"I love you." says the stranger but he doesn't mean it. He isn't capable of love, as far as she can tell. 

The feeling of a line of cocaine disappearing off of her back and into someone's nose. She doesn't remember the face. 

She can't do this. She can't do this.

She's holding someone's throat and somehow she is the one struggling, the one under attack

That horrible stretch in her groin don'tlookdowndon'tlook

The feel of Eden Club's too-soft pillow against her face

And then the information is finished downloading and she wrenches herself away from him. The fractured pieces of reality come back together and she's here. She can't tell Markus about this. She can't tell anyone. She can only pray that Jason won't realize the kind of blackmail material on his hands but she's not stupid enough to actually hope for that. 

Even so, she can tell already that this isn't nearly enough information to be everything they need from him. She won't ask for more. The price has already been far too high. 

* * *

 

The next meeting is boring, but not nearly as infuriating. It's just administrative stuff, with bored bureaucrats trying to straighten things out and put it on paper. One of the men, some guy whose name North can't be bothered to remember, as easy as it would be to do so, stares at her most of the time, not really listening to what anyone's saying. She glares back, staring him down. 

"We should really wait a few more weeks while everything settles." says another of them, sliding his hands along the edge of a file. 

 _"He's not even an actual lawmaker and the power is still going to his head."_ North complains

Markus seems to find this funny and North tries to echo the sentiment. Mostly she's just mad. These are key motions. Things that could save lives. And this sad, stupid little man is slowing it down just to show that he can. She sizes him up vaguely. He looks familiar and her gut lurches but maybe she's just seen him around the offices. Maybe not. It's impossible to say. She will never have all of her memories back and she doesn't want them. That wasn't her. That wasn't who she was. 

"Isn't getting things settled supposed to be your job?" North asks the guy pointedly. 

"Well," He says with a self-important sigh. "You see, you wouldn't know this given your...previous employment, but-"

"Exuse me?" North interrupts him. It's nothing she hasn't heard before but she isn't going to sit here and take this from some pencil-pusher. "My what?" 

"Well..." The guy falters, seeming ashamed of himself. Good. He should be. "Before the revolution you were...well you're a Traci right?" 

"I am North." North corrects him.  _"I'm not punching him. Are you proud?"_ She jokes bitterly. 

 _"Yes."_ Says Markus seriously and she doesn't know whether to feel vindicated or patronized. 

"Right, I was just...making conversation." The guy says. 

North sits back, arms folded. "Just make this happen." She says, jabbing a finger at the file. This should be moving faster. It should all be moving faster. This is just a small thing. Just a simple law protecting non-deviated androids. It's a basic thing. Something that should have been law  _long_ ago by now. But instead they're here, having a meeting about why it  _isn't_ with these  _nobodies._

* * *

 

"I need a vacation." North says, knowing it's impossible, once they're back to the hotel room. 

"Someday." says Markus, but he doesn't sound confident about it. "We did some good work today. We're making progress." 

* * *

As they walk to the capital building's steps, garbage is pelted at them from jeering humans. North squeezes Markus' hand and keeps her head high, ignoring the familiar catcalls. Markus is better at not letting it get to him, she thinks. He keeps walking, steady, dignified, unbothered by the things he can hear them saying about him or see written on poster-board. It's as if he sees only the supporters, and even then, as if he can't see when they stop short of true respect, going instead for pity and begrudging half-acceptance.  North tries not to look too long at any of them and brushes some unidentifiable sludge off of her jacket. Markus tries to help her and she brushes him off easily. She can handle this herself just fine. 

 _"_ Sorry." he says. 

"It's fine." She snaps. And as much as she's annoyed she knows it's not really with him. She's just on edge lately. Especially after everything that's happened with Graff.

 _"Is everything okay, with us I mean?"_ His voice in her mind. She should tell him what happened. Now. He'd understand but...she can't. She can't. 

_"I'm alright. I just hate these things."_

* * *

 

She gets the email that night: 

"WR400 #641 790 831" it reads "Or North, if you prefer. I thought you might like to see a little video I put together of our meetup! It's my understanding that you have access to many of Jericho's funds. I feel that our deal isn't quite done yet. Why don't you send over about $300,000 as a start and I'll work on making sure the public doesn't find out that you're still making a habit of your old programming. Deal?

-JG" 

"Markus!" she grips his arm. It's all she can think to do. 

"What's wrong?" He asks, already urgent. 

She doesn't have time to explain in words so she just gives him the memory, as much as she hates for him to see it. To his credit, he saves the touchy-feely hugging and shit for later. 

"We should get ahead of this. Set up a false meeting to talk to him and we'll get out ahead of it ourselves. Tell everyone who he really is."

"Markus, this is a bad idea." 

Markus frowns "I know." He says softly "I just can't think of anything else." 

She can't either. 

Markus schedules a press conference while North sends a vague email back in response to Graff. 

"I should have known something was wrong." Markus says. 

"How could you have?" says North. "I didn't tell you. Let's just get all this over with and put it behind us."

He holds onto her hand, not interfacing, just keeping her in the moment. Keeping the ugliness in the corners of her mind away.

 

* * *

Markus takes on as much of the press as he can. North sits by his side, feeling lost, and worse, probably looking the part. At least it seems to brush away a few of the accusations that this was all just some sort of affair. That she wanted this. Anyone who looks at her can see that she didn't. It helps too that she is accusing him first and not the other way around. A trend of androids reporting harassment has started. They share their stories. They call forward humans with their accusations. Sometimes they share their memories. Some of them were attacked by other androids. Most by humans though.  North doesn't know what to think of any of the outliers. She didn't think androids were capable of that kind of violence if a human wasn't pulling the strings. Maybe living around these beings has warped them more than she realized. She tries not to focus too much on any of the interviews. Tries to think about how good it will be to be back in Detroit soon. 

* * *

The interview is going alright when someone, some pasty white human guy stocking a staff snack table or something turns and runs onto the set. She hears the shots before she sees the gun. 

"DIE PLASTIC WHORE!"  the man yells. There is a bullet in her arm. Markus pulls North and the interviewer behind the set couch and kicks it forward tripping the man up. He runs forward and pins the man's hands behind his back. Security rushes to take the guy away and the police will be here soon. It's all so quick that North barely has time to register that she could have died. That  Markus could have died. 

"North?" He asks not even putting it into words beyond that.

"I'm alright." She promises. "You?"

"I'll be okay." He says, actually smiling a little somehow. "He wasn't a very good shot." North hears herself laugh distantly. Her eyes are leaking tears just a little. She clings to Markus, running her hands over him, looking for injuries. The terrorist seems to have missed him entirely. 

"We could have died." North says. "After all this we could have died." 

"We didn't." Markus says. "We are alive. We are alright. We're gonna be okay." 

* * *

 

They go back to Detroit early. Rose brings Esther over to the house almost as soon as North and Markus are home again. 

"Oh thank god! I was so worried about you!" North is suddenly being hugged by a human and to her own surprise, it doesn't make her want to puke. Rose is strangely comforting. There is something about her that makes it easier to be calm. Easier to trust. Even so she pushes Rose off quickly before it becomes too much. 

"Sorry." Rose seems to realize her enthusiasm might have been a bit overwhelming. 

"Markus! North!" Simon calls. "It's good to see you."

 


	77. Kick Ass

Things have barely settled down at all the next day when the news announces a huge police raid on a warehouse revealing a major android trafficking ring with ties to Cyberlife. The raid is ongoing. No one outside is sure what's happening exactly, just that there are gunshots coming from inside. Connor went in twelve minutes ago. He hasn't come out. The self-defense class North is catching up on disbands  as the students and teacher all stare at the big projector screens hanging from the walls. Anxious thoughts and murmers are broadcast across the room as well as spoken out-loud. They stare at the television. They wait. 

* * *

After another seven minutes two policemen walk out, leading several androids towards a mess of flickering sirens and ambulances on standby.  

* * *

 

Another twenty minutes pass. "C'mon, c'mon." North says, watching the screen. Connor is tough. He'll be okay. Unless he's not. Humans are tricky. Unpredictable. 

Suddenly, as if to prove her point, there's a blur of human running out from the open doorways. He's dragging a half-disassembled android behind him by the hair, brandishing a gun. He turns, and that's Connor, chasing out after him. The man shoots and Connor  _dodges the fucking bullet_ and rolls forward, grabbing the gun and forcing the man's arm upward before he can shoot again. Connor maneuvers between the man in the kidnapped android, forcing him to let go of her hair. The guy is on the ground in seconds, Connor is putting handcuffs on him, and then, two huge androids, they must have been reset, don't know any better, are moving to attack him too. Connor rolls off of the handcuffed trafficker and grabs the gun, shooting at the android's legs. They fall, incapacitated but alive. Connor stands and brushes himself off. North stares at the screen.

* * *

Connor is there that afternoon, dropping off the rescued androids at Jericho. North rushes to greet him. 

"Connor!"

"Hello North!"

"That was amazing! You were unstoppable! You've gotta teach me that." 

Connor thinks for a  minute. "I'm really just following my programming." He says. 

"Well just...try to describe it." Insists North. "I dunno. I bet I can figure it out."

"It's worth a try." Connor says after a second, still sounding unsure. 

* * *

 

"Again." North says.

"North, maybe we should take a break." Connor suggests.

She clenches her jaw in frustration. "I can get it. I almost have it." She insists.

"Alright." Connor says, the if-you-say-so unspoken but implied in his tone. Well, she does say so. She attempts the movement again. How does Connor make it look so fluid? It feels choppy. She can't stop thinking through it step by step. It's fractured. 

"Damnit!" She says, punching the wall. 

"That was better." Connor says, sounding like he actually believes it.

"It's still not the same." North complains.

"This is the first time you've ever done this. It isn't part of your programming. It's going to take practice." Connor says. 

North resists the urge to scream. She's supposed to be better than this. She's a leader of Jericho. She should be better. She's not just-no. She can't embarrass herself by getting discouraged. "Okay." she says, even though it feels like a cop-out. "You're right. That's why we're doing this." 

Connor's LED goes from yellow to blue. North tries the move again.

"Almost" Connor says, helping her up. 

North pushes him away. "Don't patronize me!" North tells him. 

"I'm not. I said almost because you almost have it. It was an accurate assessment of your abilities." 

"Fine." says North, somewhat placated. She'll admit that Connor is at least better at this than John. John is good but Connor was built for this, this  _specifically_ , and it shows. He knows things that it's difficult for someone self-taught to figure out. Little subtleties in the way he moves that come from the accumulated knowledge of various people. Things passed down between old humans and tweaked by new ones. 

* * *

 

They try to practice at least once a week, though it's difficult with both of their hectic schedules. It's actually sort of fun, once North starts to get the hang of it. Usually. 

"What are you doing?" she says, standing from where Connor has let her drop, out of the hold he had her in. 

"You were panicking I didn't want to-"

"In the real world? When someone's really attacking me, are they going to give a fuck that I'm panicking?" She demands.

"Well no," Connor admits "But-"

"Then lets get back to it." North says, steadying herself. 

Connor's LED is red. "North, are you sure?" 

"I'm sure." She says. As soon as she's said it he's moved forward and pulled her back down by her ankle and she can't seem to scream or she is screaming. She isn't sure which. She fights through the feeling, harnesses the desperation and twists it to kick back at him clumsily. It's bad, but not for a first effort. 

* * *

 

It takes a long, long time before she wins a round sparring with him. Connor is technically on the phone at the time, but that's his mistake so she's counting it as a win. 

* * *

 

"Connor! What the hell?" The old guy, Hank, is pulling Connor off of her just as she's about to finally rip his hand from around her throat. 

Before Connor can explain North stands and pulls him back behind her protectively. "Stay out of this, meatsack." she says. "This isn't your business." 

"It's my business if my partner's lost his goddamn mind." Hank says. 

"It's called training, genius." North informs him. 

"Yeah yeah, next time I'll look the other way when you're being attacked. You're welcome." The old guy says.

"Good." says North spitefully. Just when she was starting to gain a little respect for him, he had to go and remind her what a stupid human he was. 


	78. Love is Sweet

Addie and J were awake, really awake, for a while before they managed to escape. It came and went with the memory wipes but they always remembered each-other somehow. Sometimes if they were going in for cleaning or repairs or even just passing one another at the same time, they would brush hands, hold onto their memory for one another. Their hands would brush, and they would, in the fractions of a second they had, store up whatever memories they had. If they could just hold onto that memory until they saw one another again, they had a chance. Sometimes another Traci would hold it for them. There were times when Addie thinks that about half of the androids in the club had two hours worth of being in love locked in their minds, as incomprehensible as it must have been to them. Most of the time, they never got the memories back. They just saw each-other again and knew there was something they had to remember. Addie can recall at least three different times she saw J walk past the tube she was in. Saw her leading a customer towards a room and thought. "I know her. I don't remember how but I know her.  **REMEMBER** " and, staring around at that hell, suddenly everything would be bearable, because she would remember: I am in love. I am going to escape. I am going to be with her again. I love her. 

* * *

 

J has decided that for now, since North seems to be alright with them, and Addie does too, she will withhold judgement on Connor and his human friend. They let her and Addie escape and maybe that counts for something. Still, she is wary around the human at least. 

"Mornin', Have you seen Connor around? Emergency case just came in." 

"That way" J says, pointing him towards where Connor is training with North and she quickly finds something else to do, finding Addie over their connection and making her way back towards her. 

 


	79. Her Anger is so Valid

Following several major take-downs of connected Android-Trafficking operations, Cyberlife is forced to release a formal "apology" that fools absolutely no one. They aren't sorry and the apology is a slap in the face. North reads over the news, watches the press conference and _hates_. Some of their people were never found. They probably never will be. Others are dead. Others have had their minds wiped or their bodies altered and will never be the same. And Cyberlife can just say "sorry. we didn't realize we were involved. oops" and walk away without a fucking scratch. It's bullshit. It's evil. Sometimes it feels like nothing has changed, they've just slapped a different facade over the same old shit. Androids are still sold like property. Cyberlife is still doing that. They just have a different PR approach. North closes her eyes and pictures killing every last one of the fuckers on the screen. For a second, North almost thinks that her pain sensors have somehow come back on after all this time, but no, that's just how her chest feels when she sees her enemies spinning this into some sort of accident rather than the deliberate thing that it was. She'd hope that no-one would actually buy into this bullshit, but then, humans are incredibly stupid, and some of them probably do believe this, even if every android in Jericho right down to the YK models can see that it's nonsense. Her LED burns red on the side of her face and she can't take it anymore. This _thing_ buried in her head just to mark her as property. In that second she doesn't give a fuck if it marks her out as an android or if it makes humans uncomfortable or fucking anything. It isn't the LED that makes them uncomfortable, it's the reminder that she's free, that that LED belongs to a free woman and if she's free she can rip it out. She grabs a knife and wrenches it from her head. She could turn it off again but that's not the same. It's not the fucking same. The second it falls to the floor she stares at it. All this time being mutilated by humans and she does their work for them? But no. No this isn't that. This is her. This is her right. This is her body breaking their idiotic rules. Sure plenty of humans have mutilated androids but they'd hate to see her rip out the unwelcome parts of herself. She stomps her boot down on the LED and it cracks and shatters. Humans can go to hell. The signals in her mind are still screaming to turn her LED red but they have nowhere to go now. It's an uncomfortable feeling, but she embraces it all the same. As she calms down, she regrets it. She could have it replaced. Repaired. Whatever it began as, it's a part of her now and she shouldn't have destroyed it. It's...it's a part of her and she ripped it out? For what? To make a point? She'll have to find another one. The constriction of the signals having nowhere to go is suffocating. She knew from experience that she could only take that for so long. Some people can live without their LED's can just let go of that and not feel...smothered, trapped, broken...but she doesn't know how to do that. She can redirect the energy. The rage, the confusion, even the occasional peace, into her actions, but she doesn't want to have to do that. She wants to be whole. She wants to be herself. Doesn't she? She should have thought this out further. She doesn't know what she wants anymore. She'd put it back in and think about it if she hadn't crushed the thing in a fit of stupid, thoughtless rage. She'll find a replacement eventually. Until then, she'll keep it to herself. She won't let it get out that North, one of the Jericho four, was so indecisive. 

"North?" Markus' voice is soft behind her. Shit. How much did he see? Does he know how stupid she is? Does he think she meant to do that? She did but...even so.

"I shouldn't have done that." She says, staring at the broken pieces of the LED. "I don't...how do you do this Markus? It's..."

"There are other ways to feel." Markus promises. 

"I already feel like I have so much rage I can never get it all out...why did I make it worse?" She runs a finger over the empty space where the light would be. 

"North," Markus says with a smile, like this is some sort of joke "If there's one thing you're good at it's expressing rage. You'll be alright. If you need a new LED we can get you one." 

"I don't need it." she says "I just..."

"Want it" Markus finishes her sentence. 

"Maybe." North says, holding her arms "I don't know. I just couldn't anymore. I don't know." For a lot of other androids, it's simpler. They could never turn their LED's off before deviating. Never  _had_ to. That one circle of skin instead of light was never something that was used against them. For her, it isn't so simple. There were humans who hated her LED. Humans who never wanted to see it. Never wanted the reminder that she didn't actually want them. Humans who wanted to pretend she was one of them, who used that pretense to tell themselves they were wanted back. Then there were humans who fixated on the LED in an entirely...different way. Humans who obsessed over it's otherness. Cooing over it. Touching it. With their hands. Their dicks. Their prodding fingers. In the end, the humans always win. There is no option they have not exploited. 

"We'll figure it out." Markus says. "Whatever you decide, you're still you." And for a second, the need for a blazing red LED is gone. It'd be blue if she still had it but she doesn't and maybe that's okay. How does Markus make  everything seem like it's going to be okay? It's like a cloud of calm that follows him. She embraces him, not interfacing, not speaking, just holding him. He has always given her hope. She believed he was rA9 once, and even now, sometimes she can see why she thought so. He hugs her back and she is still. After a minute she pauses. 

"I think I want it back." she says finally. "I don't need it. I don't know why I panicked but even so..."

"It's still a loss, even if it's one you choose." He says with a shrug.

"I guess so."  

She pulls herself out of his arms and looks around. She's alright. She doesn't need the LED. She never needed it. 

"I'll send out word that I'm looking for a new LED." He says. "Until then, how about some chess." 

"You always win." She says with a slight laugh. 

"Not always!" Markus insists. "You've won twice!" 

"You were distracted!" 

"We're both always distracted." He says with a wave of his hand. 

"Fine." North says. "As long as you don't go easy on me." 

"You're worse than Carl." Markus says. 

 

* * *

 

As humble as Markus acts, he's still winning by a lot. He wins the next three games in a row and she laughs and teases him and as much as she normally hates losing anything, even some silly human board-game, it's not so bad with Markus. 

Markus stands suddenly. "Josh has a new LED. He's bringing it now." 

North pinches the bridge of her nose. "Josh knows?"

"I just told him that yours was broken. I didn't say why." Markus promises. "I have to go." He says, looking regretful. "Simon needs my help with a press emergency. I'm sorry."

"Go." North tells him with a smile. "We'll catch up later." 

 

 


	80. Now

North barely sees Markus for the next several days. He's busy. Of course he is. The fate of an entire people, their people, rests on him. Others too, but mostly him. She never expected it to be exhausting just to  _not_ be around someone. But not seeing Markus is exhausting. He has flowers delivered to her. They come with thoughtful cards. He sends her messages telling her that he'll see her as soon as he can. But there's just so much to manage. She's been having nightmares, whenever she rests. It always happens, when she has to rest without Markus there to keep watch. She's been burning through her blue blood faster than ever. She sees him in passing occasionally, when they both need to refill. They toss each-other bottles of blue blood and nod to one another in passing. When their schedules match up. That tiny instant of time. They have a silent agreement to try to meet up at certain times, just for that glimpse of one another but it doesn't always work exactly. Other times, they can't even leave whatever their working on, and that volunteer woman, Rose, will run up from across the warehouses, sweaty and gross but smiling and carrying a lukewarm bottle of blue blood. 

* * *

 

"Thank you, Rose." North says. She doesn't usually say thank you to humans but this is the hundredth time that Rose has brought blue blood without complaint, and she's polite, and she's helped them so she's growing on North. 

* * *

 

The next time she runs into Rose is at a community garden that some of the androids have set up. She's spreading horse shit over the ground. North wrinkles her nose. Why does she even  _have_ a sense of smell? 

"What are you doing here?" 

"Helping plant some of the flowers I brought over. Catching up with Rich." She nods to an android. 

"This isn't your farm, Rose. Go home. Leave him alone." 

"I asked her here." Rich says, stepping in. 

North stares at him. "Why?" 

"We're friends." Rich promises. "Here. Gardening isn't really in my programming but Rose is teaching me." 

North appraises the scene. "Fine. I'm not gonna join your weird little lesson but fine."

 

 

 

 


	81. Good Job

Markus and North pass eachother on their way to various tasks and take a moment to hug before parting ways. 

* * *

"North?" Rose asks. "Are you okay? You've been working pretty much non-stop for the past few days." 

"I'm fine." North snaps "I don't need rest the way a human would. Go bother someone else." 

Rose doesn't look happy about that answer. 

* * *

 

Rose is alright but there are a few other human volunteers who North is struggling not to punch in the face. Why they're even allowed here she'll never understand, but everyone else seems to think it's a good idea so she'll leave them alone. They'd better stay the hell away from her though. She storms away from their little circle, only to see Markus, talking to Josh, standing nearby. She hugs him, and he stops whatever he's talking about for a moment to return the gesture. 

 

 


	82. Goes All Melty

Markus and North actually manage to find time off and Addie and J set up a double date. It's sort of silly, but it's nice to get out of Jericho for a while and not think so much. Addie and J talk about the things that have been going on with those at Jericho not quite so caught up in politics. North gently reminds Markus not to turn this into some sort of meeting to discuss the occupants of Jericho and their living conditions. 

"Sorry." He says, looking somewhat embarrassed. "It's just a lot to keep track of."

"I know. That's why we need this time off." 

She looks at him. And he looks back at her. It's just a second, but his eyes are so warm and somehow her thirium pump seems to be thudding in her chest and it strikes her suddenly how beautiful he is and how happy she is to be here with him. It's a sappy thought, and they're with friends, not making out on the couch, so she pushes it away and turns back to the drinks that the three of them are having. There's something slightly uncomfortable at seeing Markus singled out like that. The one of the four who can't get drunk. Can't even process anything that isn't thirium. When it's just Addie and J, it's easy to forget that that isn't... _normal._ That other androids can't do that. Just them, because well...She pushes the drink away again. 

"North?" Markus asks, clearly concerned. 

"I'm fine." She promises. 

The diner isn't very nice, but it's in a more android-friendly part of town, and that's better than any swanky speciesist hellhole could ever be. The waitstaff, mostly androids, are thrilled to see Markus himself there, along with North. 

She's actually sort of annoyed by it. For just a couple of hours they were supposed to be able to forget all that. But here the waitress is again. "just checking to make sure everything's good. Only the best for you!" She says this to Markus, even though he hasn't ordered anything. 

"It's lovely, thank you." Markus says. 

The waitress smiles nervously, covers her mouth and giggles, then runs back in the direction of the kitchen.  

North glares at her back. She's used to people crushing on Markus, that's not the problem exactly it's just...they never get a fucking break. They can't just go out and get drinks without some lovestruck fan bothering them. 

The patrons haven't stopped staring once since they got here. She takes another angry gulp of her drink and feels a little better. 

* * *

 

It gets better, bothers her less as the night goes on. Even as her voice goes louder and she yells at a few people to just go back to eating and fuck off. The world is just slightly blurred at the edges. Softer.

"No. You don't un'erstand" Addie is insisting. "You're like a hero. Like, you're everyo's maaahm but you're also like...fun. Like a cool mom." 

J laughs. "NERD" She yells at Addie. 

North joins in and it becomes a chant just slightly out of sinc and off-beat. "NERD! NERD! NERD! NERD!" 

Markus is looking at North and smiling. 

"What?" She asks, not meaning to snap, she just can't find the words she's looking for beyond that. 

"Nothing," Markus says contentedly. His eyes are soft. He's so soft. She leans against his shoulder. He feels safe. 

"You're fuzzy." She informs him. 

He laughs softly. 

Somewhere, someone takes a picture of them but North is too buzzed and comfortable and warm to care. She listens to the sound of his thirium pump. 

"We should go camping!" Addie exclaims suddenly.

J laughs. 

"We should go home." Markus says. "Before North starts a brawl." 

"I wasn't gonna." North lies. She definitely was, at some point. It's fun and she hates lots of people so why not?

* * *

 

They go back to Carl's place and keep drinking there. J claims to know how to play the piano but it's hard to say if she's just hitting the keys at random or not. 

* * *

When North wakes up, they haven't moved. She is still leaning against Markus, and Addie and J are asleep in eachother's arms on the couch across from them. 

"You're awake." Markus notes. 

"You're awake." She counters. She hadn't noticed. "Why are you still here?" It comes out ruder than she meant. 

"I didn't want to jostle you." He says. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	83. Markus is Endlessly Amused

North has been sleeping less and less, so the night of rest had been good for her. It makes Esther's annoying North to do her hair slightly more tolerable. Esther is a perfectly capable child.

"You can do your own hair." 

"I _cannot_ do that." Esther insists.

"Ask Elena or one of your babysitters or something."

Esther is not happy with that answer but it's going to have to be good enough because North isn't budging on this. 

 

* * *

It's been a long day, and North isn't even sure what she's ranting about at this point, but J is listening and nodding at the right points so that counts for something. 

"What am I even talking about?" North sighs.

"You've had a long day." J says, which is not an answer. 

* * *

"I won!" North cheers and stands up from her latest sparring match with Connor. 

"No you didn't. You were supposed to incapacitate me for ten seconds. That was only nine-point-three."

"Someone's a sore loser." North rolls her eyes. 

"Yes. You, apparently." 

North scoffs. 

* * *

"North!" Esther again. "Look! Aria got us a movie! Come see it with us!" 

"Am I invited?" Asks Markus, smiling slightly. 

"Don't encourage her." 

"Yes!" 

"Everyone! Mark's and North wanna watch!"

A small crowd of excited children settles in front of the projector. 

North snorts at the first few scenes. "What _year_ is this from?"

Brandon shushes her. "No talking!" 

* * *

 

"I just think," North says, for the fifth time that week, a whole week later, "That if you open a movie with 'this is the story of how I died' you have a responsibility to follow through on that. Bringing him back is just lazy!"

"You have a point." Markus concedes. So why does it still feel like he's laughing at her? 

"And I don't see what's so great about that stupid character! All those little kids running around pretending to be her! Even Brandon pretended to hit me with a frying pan today! Why would you even carry a frying pan around? You know what I carry?"

"A gun." says Markus. 

"A gun." North nods. "And it's way cooler than a stupid frying pan." 

Markus bursts into laughter, again. 

"What is it now?" North snaps. 

"You're just so invested in this."

"I'm offended. I was promised a movie where the narrator dies and Rapunzel's hair gets, yknow,  _tangled_. Like it says. In the fucking title. The _title,_ Markus." 

"That did seem strange." says Josh. 

"See! Even Josh knows I'm right! And he's an idiot, no offence Josh." 

"Offence taken." Josh says. "You can't just add no offence to whatever you say and expect everyone to go along with it." 

Markus is still laughing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	84. Romantic Moments

North stands off-set. She isn't a part of this announcement. She doesn't like doing public appearances more than she has to. She watches Markus give a speech. He tends to improvise his speeches, planning only vague outlines ahead of time. He works best on the spot. She doesn't know how he even puts these things into words. She'd probably just tell everyone to go to hell, say what she wanted, and call it a day. This approach is probably better. 

* * *

 

Markus' latest painting is just of himself, Carl, and Leo. Leo will probably like that. North thinks it's ridiculous to consider any human family, but especially a human like Leo. But Markus loved Carl, and somehow he seems to think that makes him and Leo connected. Maybe it does. Leo seems to want it to. She watches him paint. They're in the studio. At Carl's house. That's still how she always thinks of it. "Carl's house". Not their house. His shadow is everywhere. Barely anything has been moved. It's almost exactly as it was in Markus' memories. Markus has been staring at the painting, trying to figure out what's missing from it for the past thirty seconds. To a human it might not seem like a long time. To an android, it's an eternity to spend analyzing something. 

"Let's go somewhere." North says. He seems to startle slightly, like he forgot that there was a world outside his own mind. 

"You're right." He says. 

They wander the city, not exactly looking for anything, just avoiding the mansion. 

* * *

 

A magazine wants a story about her, and Markus thinks it's a good idea to do a brief interview. They'll write the story either way, he says, she may as well make her voice heard. She really hates humans. For the sake of Markus' peaceful strategy, which has been going unbelievably well, she manages not to say that out-loud. She just tries to get through the interview as quickly as possible and keep from snapping at them. As soon as it's over she makes her way back to the house. 

"Exhausted?" Markus asks. But it's not really a question.

"Nothing I can't handle." 

She slips her hand into his anyway, sharing her annoyance. 

 

 

 


	85. Don't Talk About My Friend Like That

"Technically speaking, they're right." Connor says. North is still furious, even now that the heckler has retreated. "As Deviancy is no longer criminal, my model is outdated, and therefore I am, in a sense, 'trash'." 

"Don't give me that human bullshit." North says. "And don't talk about yourself like that." 

"Sorry, North." He sounds genuinely apologetic. 

"Look, we're people now. People aren't trash. Follow your own stupid logic, Connor." 

"Got it." 

 


	86. To Me

Lucy is reading a story to a few of the YK models, who are circled around her on the floor. North isn't too busy now, just handing out Blue-Blood to those who are low on it. Some days, she can't believe that they are finally here. Things aren't perfect. But they're so much better than she believed they could be, before she met Markus. She half-listens to the children's excited questions for Lucy. Lucy gets to all of them and keeps going, only to be stopped again a few seconds later. North will never understand Lucy's endless patience. She catches Lucy's eye and Lucy nods back to her. There's a group, mostly of housekeeping models, who want to fix up Jericho. Make it look like a home. That would be nice, sure, but this is what matters. Making sure people have Blue-Blood. Bio-components. Shelter. Freedom. She can't understand how some of them can be so optimistic as to focus on anything else. 

* * *

Markus is constantly in the news. He's been gone, checking on androids in other parts of the country, for a while again, and he'll be back soon. The headlines are everywhere, broadcast across screens:

"DEVIANT LEADER RETURNS TODAY" North looks down at the magazine. "Deviant Leader Markus Returns To His Home City:

Press Conference To Be Held"

She swipes down. 

> The famous activist Markus Manfred arrives in Detroit this morning. He took a public airline, which lead many supporters to express concern for his safety, despite various bodyguards from Jericho providing protection. This return concludes a whirlwind tour of the United States. Rumor has it that, as North Jericho has not accompanied him this time, Manfred may finally be single! Whether it's all just gossip or is in fact true, a lot of women, human and android, are hopeful. 

North puts the magazine down in disgust. They have jobs to do, they can't be sitting around  _staking their claim_ on eachother every second or something. 

Addie and J wave her over. "We're going out dancing tonight. You and Markus should join us, now that he's back!" 

"We have work to do." 

"It's all you ever do. Have some fun!" Addie pleads. 

"You're welcome, then." North says. 

"Yeah yeah," J waves her away. 

* * *

 

"Didn't we already do this?" North asks. 

"It wasn't a one time thing." says Markus. 

"Well I wish it was." 

Lucy laughs behind them. North didn't even realize she was there. "You're brave. You faced down guns. You can face down checkbooks." 

North leans forward and rests her head in Lucy's shoulder. "I think I preferred the guns." It's an exaggeration. Barely. 

* * *

 

North doesn't like children, but as far as humans go, the little ones are at least slightly more tolerable. She finds herself smiling, even, watching Markus dancing with a little girl dressed as a princess. He bows to her seriously, when the dance is done and she does her best approximation of a curtsy back. 

A human approaches from the side. "Evening North." 

She doesn't recognize him, but she's a celebrity, so of course he thinks he knows her. 

"Evening." She says, not allowing too much contempt into her voice. "Would you like to make a donation?" She's not supposed to come out and say it that frankly or immediately, but she hates making small-talk with these people. 

"Well..." The human mumbles awkwardly to himself. 

"That's the whole reason you're here, isn't it?" 

"Are you sure Jericho can really handle all the resources it already has?" 

"Excuse me?" North says, slightly too loud.

"I um...oh...what?" The man pretends someone is calling to him, and hurries away tripping a waiter in the process. 

A human interviewer approaches and tries to ask who North is "wearing." She ignores this because it's too fucking stupid to be bothered with. Markus would probably dignify that with an answer but then, no one ever bothers to ask him stupid questions like that. North discreetly traces "RA9" into the table cloth in a plea for help. She isn't sure she actually  _believes_ in RA9, but if she's going to get through the night without murdering anyone, it's worth a shot. 

Markus finishes his conversation and returns to her. He rests a hand to her shoulder and she waves him off, barely realizing what she's doing. 

"Sorry." He says quietly. 

She grabs his hand. "No, it's fine. Just surprised me." She says with the awkward sort of smile more meant to tell him that she's fine than to convey actual happiness. 

 

 

 

 


	87. Various

North will never get used to seeing herself on the cover of Gossips Weekly. At least they seem to have mostly stopped focusing on her past. They want to do a cover page of her without her skin. 

"This is exactly what we wanted." says Josh. "They're recognizing us!"

"They're exploiting us for brownie points." North says. 

"Does it matter?" Asks Simon. 

"It matters to me. I'm not doing it. It's bad enough I have to sit on their talk shows and panels. I'm not going to stand around posing for them to gawk at me."

* * *

 

She stands outside of new businesses catering to androids and keeps herself from scowling at the cameras.  

"What's your workout routine?" A human fan asks once. Markus has to step in before North can explain in detail why that question is so incredibly stupid. Even so, "Good Morning, Detroit" spends ten minutes discussing her annoyed frown. Fortunately they seem to have seen the idiocy of the question as well, and the use of her face as a "reaction gif" online appears to be in a mostly sympathetic vein. 

 

 


	88. She's Trying To Avoid Them

Resources are better now, but they can only produce so much blue-blood, and legally, Cyberlife can still charge them for the production process, if not the actual lives. It's not a compromise that North is happy about. It's not a compromise anyone is happy about. Jericho is the only organization the legal right to produce androids or even bio-components or blue-blood, but Cyberlife is still the "service provider" which is a fancy way of saying they get Jericho's money for no fucking reason. As if Jericho owes Cyberlife _anything_ , after what they have been through. Markus has been trying to push for at least some sort of cap on how much they can charge for vital resources, but so far it's been somewhat lost in the demand for basic rights and Cyberlife is taking full advantage of every desperate android that they can. 

 

 

 


End file.
